Nightmare of the Void - Part 1
by AnubisGundam0
Summary: It's the Springtime Festival and expectations are high, but when Louise summons a mysterious clay doll things take an unexpected turn. Over 10K in Views.
1. Evil Instrument

**\- Evil Instrument Ver: 2 -**

* * *

On the southern end of the dormitories a young girl stirred as a ray of sunlight shone through the window onto the canopy bed. She mumbled as she woke before releasing a jaw splitting yarn as she stretched, not being a morning person she took her time rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière sixteen years old was a petite girl of short stature with peach blond hair and eyes the color of apples. She was a second year student of Tristain's prestigious academy of magic which is attended by every young mage in the kingdom, so great was its prestige it even attracted students from other kingdoms. There were no age restrictions for those that wished to attend the academy, thou most of the student body were between the ages of fifteen (first years) to 17 (third years). However allowances were made for younger students who've proven they were talented, as well for older students whom had transferred from other academies and had been required to repeat a year.

Things hadn't gone so well for the young mage, as for the past year and even before that, all her spells had backfired, fortunately she hadn't been required to repeat a year. Only just recently she had bungled a simple alchemy spell that any mage of 'Dot' rank could perform. Ever since she began practicing magic at a young age neither she nor anyone else could identify the cause of her magic's instability, it didn't matter what type of spell she tried or however many precautions were taken it always ended with same result; an explosion. It was a recurring mystery that boggled everyone who tried to solve it.

Getting out of bed she washed her face before going to the wardrobe to retrieve her school uniform which consisted of a white blouse and gray pleated skirt, a black cloak that distinguished her as a second year student, pinned at the front by a broach embellished with the pentagram of the five elements.

Today she and every other second year in the academy would participate in the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' Ritual, where each would summon his or her familiar whose nature signified the summoner's elemental affinity. The ritual was mandatory for all second year students and every mage born on Halkeginia for the past six thousand years had performed the spell at least once in their lives. For Louise it would hopefully be the first step to solving the mystery behind her erratic mage, what she didn't know was not only would her summon set her on the path to discovering the truth behind her magic, but would also plunge her into numerous conflicts spanning the continent.

* * *

In an unknown lab in one of the many Code Geass universes, scientists working for Prince Clovis on the C.C. Project diligently went about their work, their task; to recreate the unique abilities of the test subject known only as C.C. an immortal with extraordinary abilities.

Previous attempts to recreate the subject's abilities were partially successful when implanting C.C's cells directly into a human test subject, forming micro-tubes inside their bodies that interface with Eden Vital allowing them to twist universal laws granting them either physical or mental enhancements. However the transplanted cells eat away at the body in a short period of time killing the host. In response 'Inhibitors' in the form of a drug had been developed to mitigate the damage by controlling the cell's growth preventing them from running rampant, thus extending the test subjects' life expectancy, however this also reduced the effective output of the subjects' enhancements. In spite of their initial success, immortality was a long ways off.

Suspended within its holding tank with electrodes attached to monitor its vitals was a living doll shaped object that was created using the immortal's cells in the hope of replicating all her abilities. The purpose of the doll was for it to form a symbiotic bond with its host merging with them on the cellular level, thus allowing them to interface with Eden Vital while at the same time preventing the host's body from corroding. The scientists designated it; Magical Device Nemo.

However the scientists had not anticipated that the symbiote would become self aware and fearing that it could influence and perhaps even control the host, they concluded that without a means to insure obedience, it was too dangerous to implant and as such was confined to its tank for further study. Now regarded as a parasite, Nemo acquired its new moniker; The Evil Instrument.

From its tank, Nemo observed the scientists as it waited impatiently for a chance to escape and seek out a host. Then one day an anomaly occurred within the confines of its tank.

A shining mirror-like object, elliptical in shape, with no substantial thickness floated before Nemo. It had a diameter of about 30cm across, easily big enough for Nemo to fit through, curious an arm sprouted from Nemo's body and extended out to touch the mirror's surface. Upon contact Nemo was yanked from the electrodes and was drawn into its surface.

* * *

When the ritual began, Louise watched as one by one each student summoned their familiars. Tabitha's young Wind Dragon set the bar high as the most impressive summoning by far, offered by Louise's rival; Kirche, whose salamander a close second. Last night the girls had taunted her on how she would most likely fail to summon a familiar in which she retorted by claiming that she'd summon the most impressive familiar, so far it looked as thou she wouldn't be able to match her claim, but surely she could do better than Montmorency's frog.

When at long last she was called to perform the summoning, Louise stepped forward and began to caste. "Pentagram of the five elements, heed my call and bring forth my familiar!"

As per usual the result was a spectacular explosion, however as the dust began to clear, nothing appeared to have come through, mind you they were expecting something bigger and therefore didn't notice as a tiny figure slipped away under the cover of the dust cloud.

Louise could only stare at the empty space before her in disbelief. Begged Colbert to allow her to try again, which he had granted her, she repeated her attempt several times before eventually breaking out in tears as the worse possible outcome became increasingly apparent. Louise who had thought she had hit rock bottom when she'd been given the moniker of Louise the Zero in reference to her success rate, only to learn that the bottom had a basement when she botched a spell that theoretically no one could fail at.

Unable to bear any further ridicule at this point, Louise fled towards the academy, heading for the dorms as fast as her short legs could carry her.

Running across the courtyard, she tripped and fell over, fortunately no one had witnessed her fall. For a time she lay there sobbing.

 **"So you're the one that brought me here, I've been waiting for you my little witch."** A voice called to her, looking up Louise saw what appeared to be a crudely shaped clay doll sitting before her. It seemed to be made from two clumps of white clay, with a small body and an overly large head with a red streak across its face giving it the expression of an owl. Louise immediately assumed it to be some kind of Alviss, like the ones in the dining hall.

"I called you here?" She paraphrased, sitting up as the meaning behind its words sunk in. _'The spell must've worked, and this thing is what I summoned?'_ She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at how unimpressively small it was, however at this point she would take even the smallest glimmer of success if it meant avoiding been expelled.

 **"I can feel it..."** It continued, its voice echoing with Louise's mind as its body trembled, " **Your anger."**

 **"Anger at the ridicule directed towards you by your peers..."**

 **"Anger at the unyielding pressure imposed upon you by your family..."**

 **"Anger, at your own inability..."**

Louise gasped staring wide eyed at the doll. _'How does it know? I've yet to tell it anything.'_ She wondered.

 **"In exchange from freeing me from my confinement, I propose a deal."** An arm sprouted from the doll's body and extended out towards Louise. **"In exchange for making one of our wishes comes true... I will lend you my power."**

"Your power?" Louise repeated uncertain.

 **"Yes... The power to fulfill our desires."**

Tempted, Louise reached out to the doll with her wand. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière."

 **"Nemo,"** It introduced itself, **"The Evil Instrument"**

Louise began to caste. "Pentagram of the five elemental powers... Bless this humble being and make it my familiar."

With that she tapped her wand against the doll's head completing the spell 'Contract Servant,' just as its hand grasped her wrist. Louise cried out as they were engulfed within a pillar of light and the Eden Vital Beast; Mark Nemo materialized for the first time. For Louise what happened next seemed as if it were a dream.

 _'The next thing I knew... I was inside this usual looking golem... That's when my nightmare began...'_

"The contract is complete!" Nemo proclaimed with joy. "The power of Eden Vital is mine! This is my new body!"

' _As did her dream...'_

* * *

Siesta was heading outside with load of laundry to be hung out to dry; exiting the girls' dorms Siesta was blinded by a sudden burst of light. When it died down what stood in its place appeared to be a medium sized black and grey golem, trailing from the back of its head six yellow hair-like extensions each ending in a wicked dagger point, to either side of its hunched back which bulged up and out behind it. Its forehead adorned with an identical red marking.

The golem flexed its arms as its hair extensions writhed like serpents. It took several slow steps forward before breaking into a run towards the nearest wall, which it quickly scaled before leaping back down to the ground.

"I can run! I can leap! I am free at long last! And soon, I'll surpass that witch."The golem's laughter bellowed across the courtyard.

Siesta screamed and abandoning her wash basket, fled from the golem.

* * *

Upon dismissing his students, Prof. Colbert followed after Louise to check up on her; afterward she would need to speak with the headmaster as this occurrence had never happened before in the academy's long history. It was of great concern that Miss Vallière had failed to perform the summoning spell, after all no mage in the past six thousand years since the spell had been formulated by the Founder Birmir himself, had ever failed to caste the spell no matter how inept they were. The fact that the spell was one in a handful of spells that didn't belong to the four elemental categories of fire, wind, earth and water, ensuring that any mage regardless of affinity and rank with enough practice could perform it. It was essentially foolproof.

Colbert's musings were interrupted when a pillar of light erupted skyward near the dorms, rushing to investigate; Colbert collided with a maid fleeing the scene in panic. Grabbing her by the shoulders he demanded, "What happened?!"

"G-golem! A golem appeared in the courtyard near the dorms." She stammered pointing back the way she came.

 _'A golem on academy grounds, could it be Fouquet?'_ He wondered. Fouquet was a powerful earth mage and notorious thief who used large golems to break into even the most heavily defended vaults.

Fearing for the safety of the other students, Colbert hurried towards the dorms. When he arrived however there was no sign of the golem, however the courtyard was littered with large footprints, standing amongst them was...

"Miss Vallière? What are you doing here?" He asked, as she seemed to be searching intently for something.

Turning towards him her bewildered expression changed to excitement. "Prof. Colbert! I have a familiar!" She announced before resuming her search.

"You do? But how... nothing appeared during the ceremony." He recalled, thinking out loud.

"It was quite small and was obscured by the dust cloud kicked up by the backfire, that's how it slipped past everyone's notice."She explained, "Darn it, where did it get to?"

"Are you sure?" He asked feeling skeptical.

"I'm sure, I caste 'Contract Servant' on it just moments ago!" She insisted.

Colbert boggled at the implication as he recalled the pillar of light he had witnessed earlier. 'Was that her doing? But that doesn't make sense; none of her previous spells resulted in such a display. It also doesn't explain...' What Louise said next startled him out of his thoughts.

"And after that, it turned into a golem. But now it's gone, seriously how does something that big disappears into thin air." Louise postured irritably, hands on her hips.

Strangely enough Colbert's thoughts concurred with hers. "Well, until I confirm the familiar runes there's little I can do." He said at first, but before Louise could protest he continued. "It's been a long day for both of us, why don't you continue to the dorms and get some rest. Once you've located your familiar, bring it to me and we can then go through the necessary motions."

Placated for now, Louise headed for the dorms while Colbert stayed behind. Surveying the area once, Colbert set off to locate the maid he had run into earlier to get more details, and then he needed to report to Osmond.

* * *

"Unbelievable." Louise grumbled when she entered her room. Closing the door behind her, she slumped into the chair seated at the small dining table."I finally succeeded in casting a spell and I still have nothing to show for it. I thought things were suppose to be better now, but instead it's more of the same."

Indeed the spell had gone off without a hitch; there hadn't even been an explosion. Though the doll-like creature wasn't her first choice for a familiar, it was better than nothing if only to prove that she succeeded. However only for both it and the golem it transformed into to vanish leaving nary a trace. Trying to explain that Prof. Colbert without either being present hadn't been easy and judging by the skepticism evident on his expression, he was hardly convinced.

 _"Now, now. What's with the long face? I'm gone for a few minutes and you're lonely already?"_

Startled, Louise whirled around to find an unfamiliar girl standing nearby. She was the same height as Louise with pale-blond hair, eyes a deeper shade of red with pale skin and wore a seamless black one piece that covered everything except her head. Other than that, she bore an uncanny resemblance to Louise; they could almost be mistaken for twins.

"You?! Who're you? How did you get in here?" Louise demanded.

The strange girl smiled mischievously. _"What, you don't recognize me?"_ The girl brushed away the locks of hair obscuring her face with a hand marked by several runes, revealing the same marking that had given the doll Louise encountered earlier an owlish expression.

"That mark, and those runes. You are my familiar? Why do you look different from before?" Louise wondered out loud perplexed.

 _"_ _Indeed I am, and thanks to the contract we've established, I've been granted the body I've long desired to have,"_ Nemo explained as she admired her new form. _"_ _much better than that pathetic doll's body."_

Louise had to admit, Nemo's current form was much better to look at than when she had initially appeared. "Why didn't you reveal yourself when I was speaking to Prof. Colbert?" She demanded.

 _"There was no point,"_ Nemo said, _"And even if I did it wouldn't have helped you. I am not an entity that he can easily comprehend."_

Nemo's unhelpful attitude irritated Louise. "I see. In that case you can go and wash there." She tossed a bundle of washing at Nemo, much to her surprise Nemo made no effort to catch them as they passed harmlessly through her form. "Eh?" Louise gaped.

 _"I'm afraid that my new body is ill suited for the tasks you're thinking of, as I am unable to interact with the physical plane as I currently am."_ Nemo said nonchalantly.

Having failed to chastise her familiar, Louise fumed. "You had no trouble _interacting_ earlier."

 _"Those circumstances were different. Besides you wouldn't expect a dragon or a griffin to do your laundry for you now would you?"_ Nemo pointed out.

Louise grumbled in irritation.

 _"Anyway,"_ Nemo continued, _"You should get some rest, tomorrow we'll begin on the path to realizing your wish."_

"My wish?"

 _"To be a great mage of course."_

* * *

 **-End of Chapter 1-**

* * *

 **A/N: In response to Xenter's review, I have revised this chapter in an attempt to resolve its issues with flow. I don't know if I've accomplished this, though I have expanded and reworded parts of this chapter, if anything I believe I've somewhat improved upon it since its original posting.  
**

 **As always I'm receptive to any reviews and advice.**


	2. Terms of the Contract

**\- Terms of the Contract -**

* * *

The next morning Louise awoke, she had dreamed that she had summoned a clay doll, which upon making a contract turned both of them into a golem, she remember the euphoria she felt becoming one with it, a release from her burdens only to separate from her and becoming another her.

 _"Unfortunately that was not a dream."_ Despite her blurred vision she could clearly make out Nemo's form. _"It was the other face of Louise de La Vallière, I am another you. A different form of girl named Louise."_

Throwing off the covers Louise turned to her familiar, "oh that's right, familiar, dress me." She ordered, Nemo gave her a 'are you serious' look. "Humph, that's right you can't do that kind of thing." She recalled, Louise didn't see much benefit to having this familiar.

With a groan she dressed herself before leaving for breakfast. "I suppose you want something to eat?" She said rhetorically.

 _"You don't need to concern yourself with that, I'm completely self sufficient."_

"Well that's convenient, one less chore for me." In fact now that she thought about it, all her preparations to accommodate her familiar were in the end for nothing as Nemo practically had no requirements. Louise grumbled, "All that work, for nothing."

* * *

After breakfast the two exited the dining hall into one of the Academy's few courtyards, as there were no classes scheduled for the day many of the second year students were out here becoming acquainted with their familiars. Nemo showed a great deal of interest in the creatures the other students summoned.

Taking a seat at one of the many tables set for today, Louise addressed Nemo. "Since we had so little time to converse last night I think we should use this time to clear a few things up."

 _"Very well."_ Nemo acknowledged and continued observing the other students and their familiars.

Miffed that Nemo showed more interest in everyone else but her, but continued anyway. "First of all, you said we already had a contract before I caste 'contract servant', what exactly did you mean by that?"

 _"You remember right? You wanted power."_ Nemo reminded her. _"So I gave you that golem, the 'Mark Nemo' and I received one thing that I wanted."_

"What... What did you received from me?" Louise asked curiously, she knew that some familiars attained knew abilities - such as a cat gaining the ability to speak - when a bond was established.

 _"The darkness in your heart."_ She answered ominously. _"Anger. Sorrow. The vengeful spirit born from those feelings. Your negative feelings evolved me from a mere doll to a higher state of being."_

"My negative feelings...?" Louise wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

"Hi Louise, who're talking to?" Louise turned to find the last person she wanted to see - Kirche. "Your non-existent familiar?"

"What do you want Kirche?" Louise's temper began to flare; Nemo took stock of the dark skinned red head. In comparison the girl Kirche to Louise was like night and day, where Louise was short and lacking, Kirche was tall and well endowed. It was apparent to Nemo that the girl was a few years older than Louise despite been in the same year.

"There's no need to be like that Vallière, me and Flame were just passing by." That's when Louise noticed Kirche's familiar.

"Is that a Salamander?" Louise asked jealously.

"That's right; also notice the flame on its tail, one this vivid and large means it's without a doubt a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains! It matches my affinity perfectly!" Kirche bragged.

"Fire huh, that's nice." She admitted bitterly, not entirely sure what element Nemo represented.

Nemo took her time scrutinizing the salamander. _"I'll admit, it may give a normal human trouble, but otherwise it rather weak when compared to other magical beasts."_

"Yeah it is pretty weak isn't it?" Louise agreed offhandedly.

Kirche's eyes narrowed at Louise. "Now Vallière, just because you don't have a familiar is no reason to belittle my Flame."

"Eh?" Louise blinked, _'What does she mean by saying that I don't have a familiar? Is she blind?'_

 _"I am a quantum-like existence pieced together from the cells of a witch."_ Nemo answered. _"No other person aside from you can see me."_ Louise didn't really understand what Nemo meant, other than Kirche couldn't see Nemo.

"Anyway, if you're going to be so unpleasant to be around, I'd rather not speak with you." With that Kirche stalked away followed by her familiar.

Turning back to Nemo she asked. "Nemo, you said last night that you can't interact with environment around you and just now you said that no one but me can see you. Does that mean that your body is an illusion that only I can see?"

 _"Good guess, but your only half right."_ Nemo applauded her. _"Indeed overall the body you see is an illusion that only you can see and interact with, barring a few exceptions. Even if you were blind you would still be able to see me, if you deaf, you'd still hear my voice._ _As for my body, that exists right in here."_ With that Nemo pointed at Louise's head.

"Wait! You're in my head?"

" _Literally. When we made the contract and our bodies merged, I integrated myself with your brain, granting me access to your thoughts, memories and emotions."_

"M-my thoughts?"

 _"Of course. Why do think this body looks so much like yours? It's because I am modelled after you. I was once a being called Nemo, the Evil Instrument."_ Nemo continued her explanation. _"Now, I am another you."_

Suddenly there a ruckus started between three of Louise's classmates at one of the nearby tables. The individuals involved were; Guiche - the skirt-chaser, Montmorency - the flood and Katie - Guiche's latest crush. The reason for all the noise, Guiche had apparently been caught out for two timing with the first year Katie.

Guiche started making excuses and it wasn't long before the two girls started squabbling.

* * *

In the headmasters office Prof. Colbert reported to the headmaster Osmond on the events that transpired last night.

"I see." Was Osmond's response as he absorbs the details of his report. Turning to Colbert he asked, "Are you certain that the creature is her familiar?"

"I have yet to lay eyes on it myself." Colbert admitted. "After burst of light, which Miss Vallière claims to be result of casting Contract Servant, there was no trace of it to be found."

"Are you sure she's telling the truth?" Osmond asked looking for reassurance, the creature posed a possible danger to both the students and staff if it was still lingering somewhere on the school grounds.

"Honestly headmaster I don't know." Colbert answered truthfully. "Other than the maid, Miss Vallière is the only one to have seen it, as to whether she is lying I doubt it, judging by her behavior she genuinely believes she gained a familiar."

Osmond sighed and began to rub his temples in an effort to push back the oncoming headache that he knew was coming. "Nevertheless as a precaution we'll keep Miss Vallière under observation until we confirm that this creature is her familiar and that she is not being deceived. There's still the possibility that this is one of Fouquet's schemes."

There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

From behind the door came Miss Longueville's voice. "It's me, Old Osmond."

"What is it?"

"It seems there has being an altercation between some students. It's causing quite a commotion. A few teachers have gone there to try and stop it, but their attempts are being impeded by the sheer number of students."

"For heaven's sake, there's nothing worse than nobles with too much free time in their hands. So, who's involved?"

"Lady Montmorency."

"And her opponent is?"

"A young lady who is a first year student. Lord Gramont appears to somehow be involved as well."

Osmond and Colbert exchanged a look. "Ah, Gramont. The boy must take after his father. I wouldn't be surprised if the boy knows every girl in school."

"The teachers are requesting to use the 'Bell of Sleep' to stop the fight."

"Leave them be. It's ridiculous to use such an important artifact just to stop a children's fight."

"Understood." Miss Longueville's footsteps disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

As Louise watched with disinterest as the argument escalated. One of serving maids, a large breasted girl with black hair - a rare colour for the people of Tristain - set down a plate dessert in front of her. However when she turned away from the spectacle to eat it a huge gust of wind sent the plate flying off the table and into the face of the maid.

"Hey! Watch where you're aiming!" Louise shook an angry fist at pair but was ignored. She turned back to the maid - who was covered in dessert - to order another dessert, but before she could say anything the maid saw something behind Louise that sent her ducking for cover.

 _"Incoming."_ Nemo warned.

"Huh?" Louise turned just in time to see a torrent of water coming right at her.

*Splash*

Reaching the limit of her patience Louise marched toward the gathering of students where the bickering pair was fighting it out. Sensing her approach one of students turned toward her, only to turn pale before scrambling out of the way, those in front of him quickly followed suit. When she made it the center, both Montmorency and Katie continued hurling both spells and insults at one another blissfully unaware of the danger approaching.

"If it's a fight you want..." Louise interjected, causing the two girls to pause in mid-incantation. Turning to the new speaker, the pair turned pale at the sight of an enraged sopping wet Louise, but that wasn't what worried them. What worried them was the wand that Louise began brandishing in threatening manner - Louise with a wand was never a good sign. "Then I'll be happy to oblige you..."

"N-now L-Louise, don't do anything hasty..." Montmorency tried to reason with her, Katie on the other hand was too terrified to say anything - like most first years she had heard the rumors of Louise the Zero, none of them good.

Louise pointed her wand at pair and uttered a spell. "Fireball!"

*Kaboom!*

In the aftermath of the explosion both girls and number of others too foolish not to distance themselves, lay sprawled across the courtyard charred and bruised.

 _"Hey Louise, you missed one."_ With a predatory grin Nemo pointed and a glimmer of movement caught Louise attention, it was the two timer Guiche. He had somehow managed to weather the explosion caused by her spell and was trying to sneak away.

"Hold it right there!" Guiche froze in terror. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Ummm..." Guiche tried to think of something to say in order to placate the half pint terror.

"Don't bother." Louise said menacingly, before brandishing her wand in his direction. "You're the cause of this! Fireball!"

*Kaboom!*

* * *

 **\- End of chapter 2 -**


	3. Resonance

**\- Resonance -**

* * *

A week and few more explosions later Louise's situation began to improve, the students had developed a healthy if somewhat wary respect for Louise, as her backfiring spells turned from an object of ridicule to a weapon of reprisal. When word got back to Osmond he was dismayed, foreseeing further explosions in the future now that she was more than willing to brandish them against those who ridiculed her, not to mention the higher damage costs.

In class Nemo showed some degree of interest as the teacher glossed over the facts regarding the combining of elements and how they determined a mages rank. Dot = one element, line = two elements, triangle = three, Square = four and so on and so forth. On a positive note Kirche's teasing manner had been replaced by a more thoughtful one, no doubt due to Louise's change in tact, so the number of verbal barbs sent in Lousie's direction were surprising few.

* * *

On the day of the Void, Louise was in such high spirits, she treated herself to day on the town. In Tristain's capital Louise moving from stall to stall checking out all the latest fashions and jewellery, buying herself a few treats along the way. However it didn't last, while walking down Bourdonné Street Nemo paused suddenly examining the runes which had begun to pulse on the back of her left hand.

 _"What's this? A resonance?"_ Nemo wondered. She turned to Louise, _"We should identify the source."_ Louise was somewhat annoyed at having her outing interrupted for a detour, but deep down she too was curious as to what would cause Nemo runes to react. With Nemo leading the way **t** hey traveled down an alley and entered a store with a bronze sword-shaped sign.

Seeing Louise the store owner greeted her. "My lady! My noble lady! All of my wares here are real and reasonably priced! There's nothing criminal here!" Nemo ignored him and continued to follow the resonance to its source with Louise right behind her, leading her to stack of barrels filled with rusted swords.

Guided by the resonance once more Nemo singled out one of the blade, _"that one."_ Grabbing one of the hilts Louise yanked it out of the pile.

"So you two know what a good blade is when you see one, huh?" The sword noted.

Both Louise and Nemo were surprised, firstly because the source of the resonance was a sword of all things, which could apparently talk and secondly it could somehow detect Nemo's presence. "Two? Hey Derf! Are you going cross-eyed or something there's only one customer." The store owner demanded.

"You're the one who needs to get his eyes checked." The sword - Derf - retorted.

"How dare you, you rusted piece of scrape! I ought to melt you down."

"Bring it you buck-toothed, red nosed racketeer!"

 _"Louise, we should purchase this sword."_ Nemo informed her, _" The fact that he can see me and his ties to these runes is worthwhile investigating."_

Derf then noticed the runes on Nemo left hand. "Hmmm. So you're my partner this time."

 _"It recognizes the runes?"_ Nemo remarked, _"All the more reason to obtain it."_

Louise wasn't enthusiastic about buying it, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious. "This sword, how much?" She asked the merchant.

"Huh? That sword...? 100 Ecus."

 _"50 Ecus,"_ Nemo advised. _"Make it sound like you'd be doing him favor."_

"50 Ecus." Louise didn't take no for an answer, "I'm only taking it because it would make a good research subject."

* * *

Back at the Academy, Tabitha was reading one of her favorite books; the best thing about the day of the Void was that she could read all day without any distractions. Today however she had company in the form of her close friend Kirche, the buxom redhead was one of the few people she counted as a friend.

A known philander, Kirche normally spent her free days pursuing her latest interest, but lately her focus had shifted to the sudden change in her rival Vallière. Ever since that outburst three days ago Louise had become a force to be reckoned with, the explosions caused by failing spells had been funny at first, but now that she was brandishing them as a weapon, she didn't like the prospect of the next border skirmish between their two families should Louise succeed at turning her explosions into something resembling a viable combat spell.

There was also the matter of the entity that Louise had been talking to prior the incident, considering the possibility of it been Vallière's familiar she had enlisted Tabitha's help in identifying it, but alas Tabitha couldn't detect any magical or physical presence. Attempts to listen in on Vallière's conversation with the entity had failed for the most part as they could only pickup one side of the conversation, Kirche needed to understand what was going on, the next confrontation between the Vallières and the Zerbsts depended on it. Since subtlety wasn't working, that left the direct approach.

* * *

"Remind me again why bought this piece of scrape." Louise grumbled. They had returned to the academy some ago and night had fallen.

 _"Because it may help us in the future."_

"How can it help us?"

 _"With these runes."_ Showing the runes on the back of her hand Nemo continued, _"I've noticed that most, if not, all familiars have only one rune engraved on them and yet for some reason I have a sequence of runes. Don't you think it's strange?"_

"Now that you mention it."

 _"Also the sword recognizes and identifies any familiar bearing these runes as his wielder and considering its age, this leads to conclusion that this combination of runes has appeared repeatedly before in the past. If we can discover the sword's connection and its history with these runes, runes that you engraved on me with your magic-"_

"-We might be able to figure out why my spells aren't working!"

 _"Precisely."_

It was at that moment that Kirche barged into her room followed by Tabitha. "Hello Vallière!"

Louise's good mood evaporated into thin air. "What do you want, Zerbst?"

"Now, now, Vallière. We just wanted to see how your little familiar was doing." Kirche had assumed that the entity Louise was talking to was present in her room. Unseen and unheard, Nemo made a rude noise but otherwise said nothing.

"It's none of your concern, Zerbst." Louise's replied curtly, after that the conversation between the two became heated. All the while Tabitha made herself at home seating herself on Louise's bed, continuing to read her book as she covertly monitored both the room and the bickering pair, there was no sign of any other inhabitants.

When the argument escalated to the point where they brandished their wands, she confiscated them a wave of her staff. "Indoors." She admonished them.

"Tabitha is right, we'll take this outside." With that Kirche turned on her heel and left, followed by Louise, Tabitha was the last one out. Just as she was about to follow she thought she sensed a presence behind her, but when she turned to look there was nothing, she closed the door and followed after the others.

"That one has sharp instincts." Derf commented.

 _"Indeed."_ Nemo mused, _"She sensed my presence, despite been unable to perceive me."_ With a grin on her face, Nemo phased through the door as if she were an illusion.

* * *

Louise grimaced as she considered her options, standing opposite to her a short distance away Kirche waited, the pair had opted to settle their matter in Vestri Court, in the traditional manner - a duel - while Tabitha stood off to the side to observe. While dueling was indeed forbidden on school grounds, that wasn't what concerned Louise, what concerned her was that her magic, while destructive wasn't very accurate, Louise was worried that she'd miss, something that Kirche didn't have to worry about.

 _"Don't worry about fighting with magic this time, I'll take care of this."_ Nemo informed. Louise was about to protest but Nemo cut her off. _"I think it's time that you understood what we're capable of."_

"What's the matter Vallière? Lose your nerve?" Kirche mocked.

 _"That bimbo sure has a big mouth, time to shut it."_ Suddenly purple lightning arched around them as Nemo merged her consciousness with Louise's. Kirche's eyes widened when a large pair of arms erupted from the ground, either side of Louise gaining purchase on the ground in around it, it pulled its body up from the ground. To Kirche's surprise, Louise seemingly merged with golem's body as the rest of it emerged from the ground, standing up to its full height it was somewhat over five meters tall.

 _'Not good! Golems are resistant to fire spells, especially large ones.'_ Realizing that she was in trouble Kirche raised her wand and chanted. Inside the Mark Nemo, Louise's/Nemo's left eye glowed as her Geass flashed into existence for the first time. Looking through the knightmare's monitor, Louise's Geass analyzed Kirche's spell, runes appeared in her vision identifying the spell's makeup, alignment and rank.

As Kirche launched a fireball at her, Nemo smirked not even bothering to dodge, after all, it was so... "Weak."

The spell splashed against the Mark Nemo's face causing no damage, not even marring its surface. Seeing this Kirche added more willpower into her spell and launched another fireball which the Mark Nemo nimbly evaded it, not because the spell could harm it but merely to show that it could. Kirche gritted her teeth, the golem was more agile than she expected, and she'd have to up the ante in order to win.

Once again Louise's/Nemo's Geass identified the spell, "a line class fire spell? You must be feeling the pressure to resort to that, Zerbst." The Mark Nemo charged just as Kirche launched her spell, ducking under the spell the fireball flew overhead before turning in pursuit. Louise despite been poor at casting spell was well verse in magical theory allowing her not only to easily identify the spell, but also to define the spell's properties. First of all unlike Kirche's previous spell, the line class equivalent had the ability to change direction in flight, allowing it to track and home in its target.

Caught in a tail chase the spell slowly closed the distance, but before it could hit the Mark Nemo leaped, the spell splashed harmlessly against the ground. Kirche could only gape in surprise as golems weren't known for their high jumping ability; she staggered under the impact when it nearly landed on top of her. "Blonde knife..." Nemo uttered as it flicked it head forward; the spear tipped tendrils embedded into the ground surrounding her, trapping Kirche among them like a cage.

Near the main building Guiche along with his familiar was watching the battle unfold, earlier he'd intended paying a visit to the girl's dormitory in an attempt to regain favor with Montmorency when he overheard the squabble between Vallière and Zerbst, curious he'd followed them to Vestri Court and was surprised when Louise summoned the large golem that had appeared a few days ago. It was when Kirche became ensnared by the golem that his familiar - a giant mole he'd named Verdandi - pawed at his trousers.

"Verdandi? What is it?" Using the familiar link the mole conveyed its warning to Guiche. With a gasp he screamed a warning. "Kirche! Look out! Beneath you!"

But his warning came too late, tendrils exploded from the ground, their bladed tips slashing her from all sides. The golem then snapped its head back, pulling the earth out from under Kirche's feet, sending the bloodied red head tumbling through the air.

Concerned for her friend Tabitha intervened raining circles down on the golem to no effect, unlike Kirche, Tabitha relied on precision rather than raw power, however the golem's sturdy exterior was as problematic for her as it was for Kirche. Tabitha fired another barrage which the golem swatted aside as it turned to face her.

"A triangle spell, combining wind and water? I'm impressed." Nemo commented having analyzed the spell with her Geass. "Too bad they're so weak!"

Nemo rushed Tabitha intent on crushing her under the Mark Nemo's fist, only for Tabitha to evade with surprising speed, such that Nemo had trouble keeping up with her as Tabitha used hit and run tactics to attack her from different directions.

* * *

Guiche meanwhile had rushed to the injured Kirche's side, "Kirche! Are you all right?"

"Goodness, she really did a number on me. Didn't expect it to move... so fast." Kirche murmured, it hurt to speak. "What's happening?"

"Tabitha's distracting the golem," he explained, "We need to move you to the infirmary."

"I'd very much like to go, but I'm afraid I am unable to walk at the moment and I doubt that you can carry me." She pointed out. Indeed Guiche was far from the fittest among the boys attending the Academy and he dare not employ his golems or levitation considering the severity of Kirche's wounds, as a dot mage he didn't have the control necessary to move her safely and though he wasn't much of a healer he set to work stabilizing her with a basic recovery spell.

* * *

Back at the battle, Tabitha was starting to tire from the constant spell casting, her opponent seemingly having no weak-points for her to strike. There were only a handful of ways to defeat a golem: a) use your own golem b) reduce it to nothing with alchemy c) high ranking spells.

Unfortunately being a wind mage, golems and alchemy were out of the question and willpower depletion ruled out Tabitha's strongest spells, even so she began to chant. Evading the golem's lightning fast tendrils, Tabitha waved her staff and counterattacked with the strongest spell she could muster. "Air Hammer."

Cutting the chant short due to low willpower the triangle spell's output was only two thirds of its full strength, still it was enough to send the golem flying, colliding with the inside of the Academy's outer defensive wall. The golem lay there unmoving seemingly knocked out; having bought herself some time she retreated back to Kirche's location only to find that she was still unable to be moved.

"I've gotten us into serious trouble this time, haven't I Tabitha." Kirche asked rhetorically as she smiled weakly up at her friend. She silently agreed, Tabitha feared for her friends safety believing that Vallière's familiar was beyond Louise's control or the history between the Zerbsts and the Vallières had caused the situation to escalate beyond a mere duel, henceforth her intervention.

"Umm, guys. It's moving." Guiche warned.

Tabitha turned to see that the golem was slowly righting itself; unfortunately Kirche's condition made a rapid retreat impossible. They would have to make one last stand and for that she'd have to enlist Guiche's help.

* * *

"Owe... my head. She's going to pay for that." Nemo muttered angrily as she got the Mark Nemo back on its feet, her Geass caught a glimpse of a spell. "Now what's she up too?"

However it wasn't just Tabitha, that skirt-chaser Guiche was also casting. "When did he get here?" Nemo wondered. Suddenly she was blinded by a storm of rose petals.

"What are they? What is this?" She demanded, as the Mark Nemo became covered head to toe in rose petals, they suddenly transformed into oil. Through her blurred optics she made out another spell being formed, but poor vision made it hard to identify it. Suddenly there was a flash of light and then the whole screen lit up blinding her once again.

"Curse them! They've set me on fire!" Nemo swore, unfortunately there was nothing she could do about it, but wait until burned out. She couldn't de-materialize the Mark Nemo otherwise Louise would be covered in the flaming oil and killed. All she could do was wait until the flames burnt themselves out.

* * *

The trio watched as the burning golem flailed about for a bit before it ceased moving altogether, certain that it would no longer pursue them Tabitha turned to Guiche, "Help me." Together they lifted Kirche and the three headed towards the main building.

\- Chapter 3 end -


	4. Aftermath

**\- Aftermath -**

* * *

Between the two of them, Tabitha and Guiche managed to rush Kirche to the school's infirmary for immediate treatment, to say the healers who had been preparing to return to their sleeping quarters and call it a night were surprised was an understatement. Naturally the healers were alarmed by Kirche's lacerations courtesy of Vallière's golem. Fortunately for Kirche despite such severe injuries been unexpected in the academy, the healers who doubled as instructors were high ranking triangle class mages.

Tabitha suffered mostly from exhaustion both physically and mentally, due to constant evasion and spell casting. Guiche on the other hand who had no part in the fight till the end was insufferably spotless, such that Tabitha was tempted to remedy that using a small gust to cover him in dust at the very least, at the very least as much as she was now.

Nevertheless neither of them required any medical treatment and thus waited patiently outside while the healers tended to Kirche. Thanks to the healers' skills it her injuries would heal without scaring though she would be a little sore for a time and was restricted to bed rest for next few days to prevent her wounds from reopening. Tabitha and Guiche in the meantime returned to their rooms.

* * *

Covered head to toe in soot, Louise entered the girl's dormitory and made her way up the stairs to her room. Those who saw her naturally presumed that she had yet another mishap with her magic and snickered, albeit quietly recalling her little blow-up not too long ago. Louise for the most part ignored them as she had more pressing matters to contend with, getting cleaned up for starters.

It had been a few hours since the Mark Nemo was set alight, forcing her to take shelter within it and wait out the flames. Though she came out none the worse for wear, upon de-materializing the Mark Nemo the residue coating it fell on her, covering her in a layer of soot and while she could have gone to the girl's baths to clean up, she opted for a private bath so she could deal with the second matter, _in private._ She and Nemo needed to talk.

After having a servant girl Siesta, draw her bath and leaving with her dirty clothes for cleaning, Louise lowered herself into the water. When she was settled she addressed Nemo directly. "Nemo! What in Birmir's name happened out there?"

 _"Exactly as you remembered it, we overpowered Kirche and won the duel."_ Nemo pointed out. _"Then '_ that _' girl interfered!"_

Indeed Louise had a perfect recollection of the events that transpired during the duel, however she had no direct control over her bodies actions, rather Nemo had being in control of the fight with Louise's consciousness relegated to that of an observer. She recalled the battle resulting in Kirche's swift and yet somewhat satisfying defeat, by all accounts the duel should have ended right there and then, only for Tabitha to suddenly and inconceivably jump into the fray.

Considering Louise's history with Kirche both personal and family wise, it was possible Tabitha intervened thinking that Louise intended to kill Kirche outright. "Even so, was it really necessary to continue fighting? We won the duel after all."

Nemo frowned at her and insisted. _"She attacked us."_

"I recall that she was hardly a threat, yet you continued to pursue her, instead of backing off and be done with it. I suspect that you had gotten carried away."

Nemo denied responding, truth was that having modeled her personality on Louise's negative emotions caused her to behave in an antagonistic and somewhat erratic manner, in short she had indeed gotten carried away. Interpreting her silence as confirmation, Louise realized that she couldn't allow Nemo to do as she pleased without supervision and while she had no direct control of the Mark Nemo she could still supervise Nemo herself even if it meant nagging Nemo as a backseat driver to ensure she behaved.

That wasn't all, "Nemo, during the battle I was able to comprehend the spells they were casting despite the distance. Why is that?" She asked.

 _"That was your Geass."_ Nemo explained, _"The power that manifests from it varies between people, yours grants you the ability to analyze any spell you can see."_

"Do I have to be in the golem to use it?"

 _"No, you can use it anytime you desire."_ Nemo answered.

Deciding to experiment Louise turned to magic lamp, her Geass activated almost instinctively, causing a sigil to flare across her left eye. Through it, she could see the runes that defined the spell hovering in the air around the lamp, looking around the room she found that other enchanted objects in the room had runes floating around them, even the wall's reinforcement spell was visible to her.

"Ack!" Louise yelped when Nemo and Derflinger came into view, both the complexity combined with the intensity of the spells on both the sword and Nemo's runes nearly blinded her. Instinctively she suppressed the power and the overwhelming sensation vanished and she could see clearly once more.

Louise thoughts turned back to matter at hand, with dueling on school grounds been forbidden - a fact she was well aware of - and the extent of Kirche's injuries, there was no doubt in Louise's mind that she would be summoned to the Headmaster's office to explain herself, followed no doubt by lecture and having to give a formal apology to Kirche. While she was loath to apologize to a Zerbst of all people, by letting her temper get the best of her and disregarding the school rules, Louise as a noble had an obligation to do so if the headmaster deemed it necessary.

After drying off she suddenly realized how tired she was, she went to bed to get much needed sleep.

* * *

When morning came Kirche slowly awoke in an unfamiliar room, it took a moment to recall that she was in the school infirmary and the duel that sent her there.

Thanks to the healers' hard work last night all her wounds had been sealed and most would heal without any noticeable scarring, though even now they continued to ache. The healers had informed her that despite the healing her injuries would still be sore for the next few days and that she should rest until they fully healed.

They had allowed her a few moments to speak with her friends. Despite her blank expression Tabitha's eyes held a rare intensity as Kirche assured her that she would be alright and back on her feet soon. With a wink she promised a special thank you to Guiche for bravely stepping in to protect her when he didn't have too, Guiche accepted her thanks while blushing before the healers chased the pair out.

A few hours later she awoke when headmaster Osmond entered the infirmary. Osmond was an elderly man with long white hair and a beard to match. His eyebrows and rather thick mustache were also white, though a powerful square class mage, he was rather lecherous, she had caught his familiar - a white mouse - peeking up her skirt a number of times.

Not that she really minded as she had come to expect it of most men she'd encountered, though she disliked it when they did so without her express permission.

"Lady Kirche Augusta Frederica Von Anhalt-Zerbst," he addressed her gravely. "I hope that you are recovering comfortably?"

Kirche winced at the use of her full title; it was usually a bad sign. With a forced smile she answered. "Yes, I am thank you."

"Good, good, now I'm here in regards to events that took place last night. Could you please explain to me why you and Miss Vallière were of all things dueling?" He asked her.

Taking a breath she explained, "Early yesterday me and Tabitha observed Louise conversing with an unseen individual, Tabitha was unable to locate this person using either 'detect magic' or searching for distortions in the air around Vallière. Later that night on the way to our rooms we overheard her in the dorms, but we could only hear her side of the conversation. Curious we entered her room to find out who she was talking to and possibly how."

"After barging into her room you challenged Miss Vallière to a duel?" He inquired.

"Not at first," not bothering to deny barging into the room uninvited, looking away she continued. "I distracted her with small talk as Tabitha tried to determine how she was communicating with the other individual. Our conversation eventually became heated as usual and the challenge was issued, honestly I didn't expect it to escalate the way it did."

When Osmond didn't comment she turned to find him staring, his gaze fixated on her ample cleavage, which she had exposed in an effort to keep cool within the warm confines of the infirmary. With a sigh she tightened the front of her robe covering her chest - the healers had given it to her to replace her shredded uniform, unfortunately the robe made her uncomfortably hot - when she did so Osmond blinked in surprise and she gave him a knowing smile.

Having been caught in the act he coughed in embarrassment before continuing as if nothing had happened. "Ahem! Care to elaborate on how the duel differed from your expectations?"

 _'Oh, so you were paying attention after all,'_ she thought sarcastically before saying. "As I'm sure you're aware, for the past year and a half since she enrolled, Vallière has yet to successfully caste a single spell often resulting in an explosion." When Osmond nodded she continued, "When I challenged her it was clear she didn't like her chances but held firm on principle, as to be expected of a Vallière. So it was safe to say that her situation hadn't changed, in all honesty when we got to Vestri Court I expected her to apologize, reluctantly of course and that would've been the end of the matter. But then that strange golem appeared."

"Can you describe it to me?" He asked, when she gave him its description he nodded, "it matches the one your classmates gave as well as one report from a member of the serving staff on the day of the summoning festival."

"The festival? Are you saying that the golem is in fact Vallière's familiar?" She asked, if so then that would mean that Louise would've had partial success with at least two spells, it also meant that Kirche might have to start taking Louise seriously. "It would explain why we couldn't find who she was talking too; it would've been hiding under her feet the whole time. In her room though? The stonewalls perhaps." She wondered out loud.

"It's possible, unfortunately your classmates couldn't confirm any runes sighted anywhere on it." He answered; it wasn't uncommon for Earth mages to conceal earth golem within the nearby terrain. "There is however another possibility, earlier this morning I met with a royal messenger from the palace warning that the infamous thief Fouquet the crumbling dirt, a powerful Earth mage who uses golems and alchemy to steal from the nobility."

"You think Louise is working with Fouquet?" She asked skeptically. "I doubt it, that girl is far too prideful to stoup that low."

He nodded. "I agree Fouquet's golems are usually much larger and made from the surrounding earth. The one you and your classmates describe is metallic and smaller. According to reports Fouquet can transmute his golem's hands into metal but that's all."

"Indeed it's not a normal golem; it's too fast and agile even for one that size, also..." Kirche paused a moment to think of how to explain her suspicions. "Headmaster Osmond, I think that golem can somehow sense - or rather - see magic."

"What makes you think that?" He asked curious.

"It knew when we were going to caste, that's how it was able to avoid all my spells, including a line class spelling I caste just before I was injured." Her affinity being Fire, Osmond surmised that she had used the advanced form of the fireball spell, Flame Ball. A spell that was infamous for its ability to change direction on the fly and track its target. It would have taken more than simple agility to avoid it, the golem must have had some inkling of the spell's properties, an impressive feat for a mere golem.

Kirche added, "It was only when Guiche and Tabitha blinded it did we catch it off guard."

"Hmm, I'll take that under consideration, until we know for certain whether it is Miss Vallière or Fouquet that controls the construct I must ask that you keep this to yourself for the time being. In the meantime get some rest."

Bidding her farewell he left. Letting out a sigh of relief Kirche loosened the front of her robe in an effort to cool off.

* * *

Not long afterwards Louise was summoned to the Headmaster's office, when she arrived Osmond dismissed his secretary Miss Longueville, when she left he turned to Louise.

"Miss Vallière, do you know why I summoned you here today?" He asked.

She nodded, "I imagine that this would be in regards the duel that took place last night between me and Kirche." Considering the extend of Kirche's injuries inflicted during the duel there couldn't be any other reason as the healers would've reported it to headmaster and soon after he would of learned what had transpired last night from Kirche and the others.

"Indeed, would you care to explain how this came to be?"

"Last night Kirche barged into my room uninvited and started prying." She explained while grimacing, it sounded hollow but as the saying went 'the truth was stranger than fiction.' She neglected to mention Nemo as her familiar had been uninvolved up to that point and that she wasn't sure how to explain or prove her existence outside of the golem she could summon for battle. Speaking of Nemo, Louise spied her familiar wondering the room looking over the numerous magical items strewn throughout.

"Prying seems to be a rather trivial reason to engage in a duel over." He admonished her.

"She was rather insistent with her prying."

"I see, now I'm to understand that during the course of the duel a golem intervened, do you know anything about its origins?"

"Ah, yes that's..." Initially she thought to explain it away as a spell she caste but with her track record she doubted he'd believe her, so she offered something closer to the truth. "That was my familiar"

" _Your_ familiar?" His eyes narrowed seemingly doubtful of her claim.

"Yes headmaster."

"A golem wasn't reported among the number of beings summoned during the festival." He pointed out.

"It approached me after the festival, mind you at the time it was rather small, about the size and shape of a large mushroom." She extrapolated.

"And you were able to caste 'Contract Servant' on it?"

"Yes headmaster, you have to believe me!" That part at least was true.

"Hmm," Osmond tugged thoughtfully at this beard, he knew she wasn't being completely honest with him but had the feeling that the more he pried the more ridiculous her claims would become. Not to mention she seemed at times to be observing someone in the room with them whom he couldn't locate even with his magic, much as how Miss Zerbst and Tabitha had described their own attempts to track it. Miss Vallière had also mentioned that her familiar had initially been very small if that was indeed the case, considering how much dust Louise kicked into the air when her spell back-fired it could've been easily overlooked in the mayhem.

Was Miss Vallière being manipulated by Fouquet, or was the truth as strange as it seemed? Only time will tell.

"I see," he said finally. "Nevertheless I implore you to present your familiar to Professor Colbert so that he may confirm the familial runes engraved upon it, it is necessary if you desire to participate in the familiar exhibition."

Louise cringed; she really wanted to be part of exhibition. "Very well headmaster Osmond." She reluctantly agreed while thinking, _'just how am I supposed to do that?'_

With that Osmond dismissed her.

* * *

 **\- Chapter 4 end -**


	5. The day before the Exhibition

**\- The day before the Exhibition -**

* * *

Louise paced back and forth in her room muttering. "Maybe we could... no that won't work... perhaps this... that won't cut it either"

 _"Louise, at this rate you're going to wear a hole in the floor, can't you sit still for one minute?"_ Nemo grumbled, though indifferent to the situation Louise's restlessness made her restless in turn.

"How can I sit still when the exhibition is only a few days away?!" She yelled, "The Princess will be attending and we have nothing to show for it!"

 _"Calm down already I know you want to impress Princess Henrietta, but as you know presenting me or rather the Mark Nemo as your familiar is a huge pain in the butt."_ Nemo pointed out, _"Besides we already won the duel against Kirche, we don't need to prove anything to the others."_ As a being constructed from a portion of Louise's emotions, truthfully she wanted to appear at the exhibition as much as Louise did, but she had to weigh that against their other self interests.

"That's right, we can't enter the exhibition unless Professor Colbert is convinced that the Mark Nemo is in fact my familiar." Indeed the fact that the Mark Nemo wasn't actually her familiar but a construct that Nemo materialized would be a hard sell.

Louise had an idea. "I know! Tomorrow we'll summon the Mark Nemo and copy your runes to it."

 _"Won't work."_ Nemo shot that idea down while adding, _"once the Mark Nemo is summoned I and by extension you can't separate from it without it vanishing."_

"Drat and double drat, what are we going to do?"

Nemo sighed. _"Let me worry about that, I'll handle everything when we see him after class."_

* * *

When class ended the pair went out into the courtyard to meet Colbert, her place in the exhibition depended on him being convinced that Nemo was in fact her familiar, Louise couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

 _"Stop fidgeting I said I'll take care of it."_ Nemo chided her, Louise acknowledged her with a small nod.

Seeing her approach Colbert greeted her. "Ah Louise, the headmaster informed me that you now have a familiar that you needed to present to me for the exhibition." Disbelief was evident in his voice mixed with wariness. Obviously he'd been informed of last night's events as he had initially dismissed her earlier claim.

"Yes Professor." She answered.

"Very well then." He said looking around for it, "let's see it." Nemo took over from there, unaware that they were being observed.

Calling forth the Mark Nemo, its arms it burst from the ground in a flash of lightning surprising Colbert who held his position regardless, followed by its hunched back emerging from underneath Louise's feet lifting her into the air as it pulled itself out of the ground.

Colbert could only stare as the golem's glowing eyes gazed down at him. "Amazing," He murmured it was just as the reports had described it; a metallic gray golem with red and yellow accents with six spear tipped yellow tendrils trailing from its head and what appeared to be a series of shields hovering next to each of its shoulders.

"So this is the golem that supposedly your familiar and yet I don't see any runes that would indicate such." He thought out loud.

"Hey baldy! Up here!"

Sensitive about his residing hairline Colbert replied sharply. "Now Miss Vallière, I know your frustrated but there's no need for that kind of Langu..." Looking up Colbert's voice trailed off when he realized that he wasn't speaking to Louise but someone who could be mistaken for her twin.

She had blonde hair, pale skin and eyes a darker shade of red then Louise's She wore what appeared to be a black and purple one piece that also covered her hands and feet, with an air of arrogance about her.

"If you're looking for the runes they're up here." She said revealing the back of her left wrist where Colbert could just make out a series of runes.

"I see, well if you would kindly come down from there I'll examine them, Miss?"

"Nemo, and I'm afraid no can do, the runes are only visible while connected to this Mark Nemo." She said patting the golem for emphasis. "If you want to see them you'll have to come up here."

After a moment's hesitation he used 'Levitation,' floating up to her he examined the runes. After noting the sequence down he decided to see what else he could learn about this unusual familiar. "So... Miss Nemo is that right?" She nodded. "And you call this golem the Mark Nemo, correct?"

"It is my construct yes." She answered using terms he'd understand.

"Just to clarify, this is the same construct that involved in last night's duel?" He asked.

Nemo glowered at him. "This has already been discussed with the headmaster, so there is nothing further to discuss on the matter."

"I see. Now Miss Vallière." Looking around and not seeing her, he asked, "Where is Louise?"

Nemo smirked at him. "You're looking at her." Colbert blinked in surprise, seeing that he didn't understand she explained. "When the bond was made we merged together as one being."

Concerned with the implication Colbert asked. "Was it really necessary for you two to combine bodies?"

"Had I remained in my original form, my abilities would've been too restricted to be of use to Louise." That was exactly what he was afraid of. "Oh don't worry your bald little head about it, as her familiar, her interests are my interests and I would never do anything to endanger my master. Now that you have confirmed the runes I presume that we are free to participate in the exhibition?"

Hardly reassured by her words he reluctantly allowed her/them to join the exhibition.

"Then we have nothing further to discuss." True to her word when the golem vanished her appearance reverted back to Louise, her runes disappeared as well. When the transformation ended and Louise opened her, she beamed up at him while saying. "Thank you Mr. Colbert." Before running off to plan her performance for tomorrow's exhibition.

Watching them go he was worried as to the implications of her familiar's unusual abilities, then there was the matter of the runes. Most familiars only had a single runes etched onto them and it was exceedingly rare to have more than one - usually an indication that the familiar had been bestowed additional abilities - the fact the sequence he had noted down was vaguely familiar to him further raised his concerns. Deciding to investigate the runes first before reporting to the headmaster he headed for the Library.

* * *

Observing from the shadows not too far away, Tabitha watched as first Louise and then Colbert leave the courtyard, thanks to her proximity and a little magical assistance she was able to both observed and listen in, hoping to glean more information on the construct she had battled in order to protect Kirche. Upon learning that Louise had been possessed by her familiar and having an instinctive fear of ghosts, Tabitha felt great trepidation at the thought of facing it again.

Having accomplished her objective in identifying the source of Louise's new ability, Tabitha withdrew to continue her preparations for the exhibition.

* * *

In another courtyard, Kirche was making her own preparations; the healers had permitted her to return to classes under strict instructions to take it easy. However she wasn't alone, Guiche had insisted on accompanying her as he underwent his own preparation, running small errands for her while she was recovering, even so Kirche did so sparingly as Montmorency, acting as chaperon - though she insisted otherwise, Kirche wasn't fooled - wasn't too impress with Guiche constantly fawning over her.

Normally Kirche would've teased her mercilessly by having Guiche run numerous silly errands just to rile her up; however since she wasn't up for another fight for once she behaved herself.

* * *

With the healers recommendation in mind in the end she decided upon having her salamander Flame make a visual display by varying the shaped of its flames emitted from its mouth.

Later that day the Princess's carriage arrived with a great fanfare as all the students lined up on either side of the path. The royal carriage was lad by four golden helm-ed unicorns, it was said that only the purest of maidens could ride one. The carriage itself was adorned with gold, silver and platinum sculptures that made up each of the royal seals, one of them being a unicorn crossed with a crystal staff, Henrietta's personal seal.

Watching from the sidelines Louise's gaze was fixed firmly on the carriage itself, beside her unseen by everyone but Louise, Nemo also watched with great interest as the Princess stepped out the carriage and approaching the teaching staff spoke.

"Welcome you Highness." Headmaster Osmond greeted her, bowing along with the other teachers.

"Thank you for having me at this exhibition; this is a first for me." Henrietta returned their greeting with a radiant smile that made all the boys and some of the teachers sigh in wonder.

* * *

Later that night, Colbert reported his findings to Osmond.

"What have you learned?" Osmond asked him.

"I have confirmed that Miss Vallière does indeed or at least appear to have a familiar, though it isn't the golem as we had assumed. The familiar itself is in fact... merged with Miss Vallière." Colbert informed him.  
Osmond's eyes narrowed at the revelation. "You've seen this?"

Colbert nodded. "Miss Vallière's appearance and demeanor changed when I conversed with it directly. It presented itself as Nemo."

"And?"

Colbert continued. "Its persona is rather arrogant and abrasive and, though it refused to discuss the matter of last night's events, it is quick to anger and most likely easily provoked."

"I'm not surprised." Osmond cut in, "the familiar matches the mage, that's how the spell has always worked for centuries. Miss Vallière has always been easily provoked by her peers, especially by Miss Zerbst." Colbert nodded in agreement; he and the teaching staff had witnessed many an argument between the two. "One thing to be thankful for is her difficulty in spell casting, otherwise there would be constant fighting day in and day out between those two. The question is, was that the real Louise you met? Or some kind of doppelganger?"

"If it's a doppelganger, its impersonation of Louise is practically flawless and I have yet to hear of one that could create a golem." Colbert added, "Though the runes would indicate otherwise."

"Such is the mysteries of the First-Borns." Osmond mused.

"Yes sir, but there's more." Colbert interjected, Osmond gestured for him to continue. "I did some research on the runes inscribed on Miss Vallière's familiar and this is what I found."

Colbert handed him a book her found in the Fenrir's Library, Osmond noted the title. "The Familiars of the Founder Birmir." Colbert then opened it to a page he had marked, then presented to Osmond a sketch of Nemo's runes. Comparing the sketch to the ones in the book, Osmond found that it matched one of the four illustrated; Gandálfr. "This could be problematic."

"Sir, should we inform the Princess?" Colbert asked.

"Absolutely not! Miss Vallière has enough troubles as it is without the interference of the royal court, besides it's too early to make any definite claims." Osmond admonished him.

"I suppose your right Sir Osmond." Colbert reluctantly conceded.

"Hopefully the fact that the familiar isn't readily visible to others, no one will from the palace will catch on, the last thing we want is for the Church to get involved." Was Osmond sober assessment, gulping Colbert couldn't help but agree.

* * *

Sitting at the table in her room Louise grumbled, despite having Nemo approved to participate, she had trouble coming up with a suitable display and the few she did suggest Nemo refused outright to perform, stating that she would never degrade herself by doing something so ridiculous, insisting that she'll handle it, but after last night's display Louise didn't have much confidence.

As a result their relationship became a little shaky. Before their argument could resume they were interrupted there a series of knocks at the door, two long and three short. The orderly knocks sparked a memory from Louise's past, moving to the door, she opened it. Standing in the doorway was a hooded figure that quickly entered the room closing the door behind them, surprising Louise.

Composing herself she addressed her visitor. "Who are you?"

"It has been a while, hasn't it Louise?" The figure answered pushing back their hood, revealing a girl no older than Kirche. The girl had millet-colored hair , blue eyes, pale skin and a finely shaped nose, moments after her reveal she enveloped Louise in a hug. Nemo observed these events passively confident that she was undetected by the newcomer

After a moment Louise backed away from the girl and kneels. This won't do, Your Highness. Coming to a humble place such as this..." Louise said ceremoniously, she hadn't being prepared to receive royalty.

"Oh, Louise Françoise! Please stop acting so formally! We are friends, are we not?"

"Your highness..." Louise lifted her head. With sentimental expressions the pair reminisced about their childhood antics, it turned out that Louise served as a royal playmate in her youth. "You remembered... I thought you'd forgotten me."

"How could I? Back then, every day was fun." Suddenly she looked in Nemo's direction and asked. "And who might you be?"

Caught by surprise, Nemo fell from her perch on the table crashing to the floor, only to bounce back up just as quickly. _"Wait! You could see me this whole time?"_

Louise was equally surprised. "Princess?"

Henrietta looked from one to the other in confusion. "Well... yes. Am I not meant to see her? Is she hiding from someone?"

"I... don't know." Louise answered uncertain. "And I'm not hiding her; normally no one can see her except me when she's like this."

Using the table as a platform Nemo shouted. _"How are you doing this?!"_

"I'm not doing anything." Henrietta answered not sure what to make of Nemo standing on the table.

"Nemo! Stop being rude to the Princess, I won't allow it." Louise scolded, Nemo response was to fold her arms and turn away with a 'humph!' Though she refused to get down from the table.

"My apologies Princess, for her behavior. This is Nemo my somewhat unruly familiar." Louise introduced Nemo, who grimaced at the remark.

"It's nice to meet you Nemo." Henrietta continued. "I'm looking forward to see you both in the exhibition tomorrow, do your best Louise." Saying that she slipped back out the door into the hallway and left.

* * *

The next morning the exhibition was in full swing as Louise and Nemo waited for their turn.

Shortly after Henrietta departed from their quarters last night, the pair had resumed their argument which had lasted well into the night leaving Louise tired and grumpy before they settled on simply presenting the Mark Nemo to the audience, in the end they considered it a suitable compromise and left it at that.

The pair watched as the other students went through their individual acts; Kirche's salamander put on a fiery display, Montmorency's frog Robin performed a dance and Guiche... unremarkable posed with his mole and was quickly shooed off the stage, considering that he had been helping Kirche all day yesterday it was no real surprise.

* * *

Behind the rows of students assembled in front of the stage, two small awnings were set up to provide shade for the teaching staff and the Princess. In the one on the right sat the headmaster and Colbert as they observed the performance while the Princess Henrietta watched from the one on the left.

As Miss Tabitha demonstrated the acrobatic ability of her young wind dragon, Osmond was impressed as to how well she had trained it in the brief span of time since the summoning festival.

When Louise's turn came Colbert whispered in his ear. "Headmaster, when Miss Vallière calls forth her golem, focus on Louise herself there you'll glimpse her true familiar, the one that controls the golem."

Osmond nodded as he watched Louise move to the center of the stage as she was heckled by the other students. Considering what happened not too long ago Osmond was starting to wonder if this was a good idea.

Doing her best to ignore their jeers she spoke. "I present to you my familiar, Nemo." The jeers were cut off in mid-sentence as all the students gawked as two giant arms emerged from the stage in a flash of lightning.

Following Colbert's advice he kept his eyes fixed on Louise and noticed subtle changes in her appearance as the golem emerged before she vanished inside the hump on the golem's back.

 _'You wouldn't know it was there unless you were looking for it.'_ Thought Osmond, before turning his attention to the golem itself.

The students seated before the stage stared up at black and grey golem in silence as it towered over them, its yellow spearheaded hair like tendrils writhed and contorted.

After scanning the crowd it turned and walked off the stage, when its foot reached the ground it vanished in another brilliant burst of lightning replaced by Louise who continued on proudly.

"Well... at least she didn't start a brawl when they heckled her." Osmond remarked, Colbert equally relieved simply nodded.

* * *

Passing under the archway in one of the academy's four inner walls that she entered an adjacent courtyard next to the exhibition. She didn't bother waiting for the end of the exhibition, doubting she would've won with such a lackluster performer and Nemo's lack of cooperation meant she had to make do with the shock value of proving to her peers that she actually had a familiar.

 _"Um... Louise."_ Nemo spoke; still unhappy with Nemo on top of being lost in her thoughts Louise ignored her. _"Louise!..."_ Nemo persisted. _"You might want to see this."_

"What is it Ne- eh?!" Looking up she saw a massive golem beating its fists against the central tower. "Ah! The academy is under attack!" The pair watched as the golem's fists became metal and pounded them on the tower with renewed vigor.

 _"What are we going to do?"_ Nemo asked. Taking up her wand Louise began chanting as she took aim at the golem.

When she finished she declared, "Fireball!" For a second nothing happened than suddenly the tower was rocked by an explosion. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, not only had her spell backfired - again - but she also missed the target hitting the tower instead. "Argh! Couldn't it at least hit the golem!" She wailed.

 _"Your aim sucks, Louise."_ Nemo commented. _"On the bright side it would've damaged the golem had it landed."_

"Shut up!" She cried. As they were arguing a giant shadow loomed over them and the bickering pair looked up to see the golem reaching for them.

 _"Louise!"_ Nemo warned out as it grasped for her, the Mark Nemo's arms erupted from the ground holding the enormous hand back as Louise was encapsulated within it.

Once Nemo was in control she pushed the golem's hand away. Not expecting this level of resistance the golem was momentarily unbalanced, as it recovered Nemo activated Louise's Geass and quickly scanned the golem searching for a weakness. "Let's see now, 'Large Earth Golem' with 'Transmutation' spells on its hands, spell rank... Triangle, this might be trouble." Nemo concluded, before she could engage it the golem turned back to the tower and swung it metallic fist against it. A section of the tower which had up to this point withstood everything thrown against it finally crumbled and a figure - most likely the conjurer - emerged from the golem's shoulder and leap into the hole it created.

"What the...?" Nemo wondered but was interrupted when the golem attempted to crush her under a mighty hammer blow. Thanks to the Mark Nemo's small size and agility she evaded the attack easily. When Nemo recovered her footing, she found the golem moving away from the tower towards the outer wall, on its back Nemo could make out someone on its back.

"Where do you think you're going?!" She growled launching her six blonde knives into the back of its knee, burrowing in and around it, then abruptly flicked back the Mark Nemo's head the sudden tension shattered the knee section decapitating it lower leg from the rest of the body causing it to fall forward with a mighty crash.

* * *

By the time the teachers had become aware of the disturbance and had come rushing to the courtyard the battle was over. Osmond and Colbert were the first to arrive, looking over the mound of earth that had once been an earth golem and seeing as it wasn't an immediate threat, turned to observe the gaping hole leading directly into the vault - clearly they had been robbed.

"Where did you go?!" Osmond turned to the source of the voice in time to see the Mark Nemo leap into what was formerly the earth golem's back scouring the area, clearly searching for the conjurer, before fixing its gaze on a patch of earth.

"There you are!" The golem's six spear tipped tendrils pierced into the ground and wrenched a chunk of earth out of the ground. However as the dirt and rocks crumbled away in the air, there was no sign of the thief. "Blast! They got away."

"Perhaps for now, but not unscathed." Osmond pointed out gesturing with his staff at one the Mark Nemo's bladed tendrils that had some blood on it.

"Headmaster, shall we pursue?" Colbert asked.

"No." He answered, "with the injury they sustained they won't get very far, we'll begin our search in the morning."

* * *

In a forest some distance away from the academy, the infamous thief Fouquet emerged from underground. Breathing heavily he touched the wound behind his shoulder and winched in pain, removing his hand he saw it was covered in blood.

"I'd never imagine that those things could burrow so deeply into the ground." He muttered out loud, "how did it even know I was there to begin with?"

Drawing his wand he began casting a 'Recovery' spell on the wound. "No matter I have what I came for."

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 5 -**


	6. Pursuit

**\- Pursuit -**

* * *

The next morning Louise and the others were back in class. Louise sat diligently at her desk waiting for the teacher to arrive, Nemo leaning back against the stone platform for the row behind them, with nothing to do and no one to talk to other than Louise, was bored out of her skull (or rather Louise's skull).

As they waited, the students chattered among themselves. "I heard that the Princess may be held accountable for the theft." Kirche commented munching on some fruit from her homeland which she was sharing with her friend Tabitha.

Overhearing their conversation Louise demanded angrily, "how could they even consider blaming Her Highness for the theft!"

"Well for one; her decision to attend the exhibition so soon after her return from negotiations with Germainia was against her adviser, the Cardinal's recommendation; as such the Palace didn't have enough time to assemble a proper escort." Kirche explained, "because of that the school had to pull the guards from the vault to provide extra security, leaving it vulnerable."

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway if they were there or not seeing as the attack came from the outside, there was nothing the guards could have done." Louise shot back.

"Against the golem perhaps," Kirche agreed before pointing out, "But the theft would've entered on foot, away from the protection of the golem and with most of the theft's magic tied up maintaining it, the guards surely could've done something."

As Louise mulled this over, Mr. Colbert entered the classroom asking, "Would Miss Vallière and Miss Tabitha, please accompany me to the headmaster's office, he would like to speak with you both."

* * *

When they entered the headmaster's office it was filled with the instructors, no wonder they students were still waiting for lessons to begin. Osmond sat behind his desk and standing alongside him was his secretary Miss Longueville.

With long green hair tied back in a bun, pretty eyes and an elegant nose upon which sat her glasses which framed her face, despite being in her early twenties she was considered to be quite the beauty by most of the male staff. Today however she was looking rather pale was she ill?

When the door closed behind them Louise was surprised to find that Kirche had tagged along. When asked, her explanation was; "it sounded like fun, besides I was curious." caused Louise to frown at the redhead but rather than argue she turned back to the headmaster's conversation.

"-it's our complacency that has given Fouquet the courage to trespass and steal the Staff of Destruction. We're all at fault here." When Osmond finished speaking to the staff, he turned his attention to the new arrivals. "Colbert, have you brought those that witnessed the theft?"

Colbert nodded. "Yes headmaster, I've brought both Miss Vallière and Miss Tabitha as you requested."

With a side long glance at the blue haired girl, Nemo wondered, _'huh? Didn't even know she was there.'_

As Osmond considered the pair before him, his gaze briefly lingered on Kirche - who hadn't been summoned - before refocusing on them. "Please tell us the event in depth."

Stepping forward Louise described what she saw. "After leaving the exhibition I came across a large golem attacking the tower, my familiar, Nemo managed to fight it off, thou..." She turned to Tabitha frowning, "I don't recall seeing you there?"

Tabitha responded by pointing her staff towards the ceiling. "Flying overhead, after the wall was breached the theft entered and took something," was her brief explanation.

"I see." Osmond said soberly, "fortunately Miss Longueville has managed to locate the thief, who is currently hiding in an old shack out in the forest."

 _'That was awfully quick.'_ Nemo thought, _'a little too quick.'_

Miss Longueville stepped forward and showed them a sketch of the culprit and asked, "Is this person you saw?"

Louise peered at it before shaking her head. "I don't know, we were mostly focused on the golem."

"Too far away," Tabitha's responded.

Both Osmond and Colbert were disappointed that their only witnesses couldn't verify the thief's appearance, not that anyone else had been successful in that endeavor. Nobody knew what theft looked like; even the theft's gender was mystery though he was presumed to be a man. "Sir, we should send word to the palace and alert the imperial army." Colbert advised.

"We don't have time to wait for the army, we must capture Fouquet ourselves!" Osmond said with surprising vigor, the last thing he wanted was for the Staff of Destruction to fall into the hands of a bunch of militants who would no doubt decide that they should have custody of it on the premise that they could take it out of storage every now and again. Turning to the other staff members he announced, "Now, we'll organize a search team to pursue Fouquet. Those willing to join, please raise your wands."

Glancing at one another nervously, not one wand was raised. His disappointment was evident in his tone, "No one?"

Thou uncertain and seeing none of the teachers willing to take part, Louise raised her wand, much to the surprise of the others. Seeing this, Kirche also raised her wand saying, "I cannot allow myself to be outdone by a Vallière, now can I."

Narrowing her eyes at Kirche, Louise snarked, "Isn't that what happened not too long ago."

Tabitha raised her's as well, much to Kirche's surprise, "Tabitha?"

"I'm worried." She answered and she had good reason to be, Kirche's was still recovering from her injuries.

Osmond sighed; these three were the last people he wanted he wanted to send against the infamous thief Fouquet. Miss Vallière especially who had been at his academy for a little over a year still struggled with basic spells with only two recent successes under her belt. "It seems we have no choice." He murmured more to himself than to anyone else.

"Headmaster?!" Colbert objected.

"I know Colbert, regardless things aren't as bad as it looks, and Miss Tabitha is in fact a Chevalier." There was a subtle shift in the girl's expression indicating surprise, Osmond while he may act senile most of the time still had a few tricks up his sleeve, that particular nugget of information been one of them.

 _'So that's why she was so slippery during the duel.'_ Nemo muttered out loud thou only Louise heard.

Turning to Kirche Osmond continued. "Miss Zerbst has also demonstrated over the past year to be exemplary fire mage." However when he at last came to Louise he struggled for words. He cleared his throat, "Ahem... and Miss Vallière was the first to engage and drive away the thief and who's familiar has proven itself more than capable." Silently he added, _'it's about the only thing she has got going for her.'_

Osmond turn to his secretary. "Miss Longueville, would you ready a carriage and guide them to Fouquet's location?"

"Yes headmaster, it would be my pleasure."

* * *

Four hours of Kirche badgering Miss Long Longueville out of boredom later, the five of them reached a clearing in the forest and in middle was an abandoned house. Hiding behind some foliage the group observed the building for activity.

"Looks empty." Kirche observed before turning to Miss Longueville, "are you sure this is the right place?"

"According to the information I gathered this morning, yes." She replied irritably.

Nemo standing next to Louise (not even bothering to hide), asked Louise, _'any sign of magic?'_

"Eh?" was Louise's response before she remembered the Geass she gained from their contract – she had forgotten all about it – crouching behind the bush she activated it and focused on the shack, after a minute she shook her head. "No, there's no sign of magic been used." She whispered.

 _'What about the ground around it?'_ Nemo asked

Turning back to the shack Louise shook her head again, "none there either."

Nemo pointed out. _'Doesn't mean he hasn't dug a hole to hide in. Only that he doesn't need magic to keep it from collapsing in on him.'_

Hearing her Kirche turned to Louise and saw her left eye was glowing. "Louise? You can see magic? How? Since when?" Grabbing Louise by the shoulders as she bombarded her with questions shaking Louise back and forth, Kirche had thought that it was Louise's familiar that could see magic rather than Louise.

Shaking Kirche off, Louise shouted. "One of benefits from my familiar!" None of them saw the subtle shift in Longueville's expression, except Nemo. Louise noticed that Nemo had been stealing frequent glances at the headmaster's secretary ever since they left the academy; she'd assumed that Nemo was worried about Longueville since she didn't look too well when they met her and now looked even worse.

"We still need to check the house." Louise grumbled.

"While you're doing that, I'll check the surrounding area." Longueville offered.

Watching her as she disappeared into the surrounding foliage, Kirche asked. "So, who gets to go first?"

"Don't bother, Nemo is already there." Louise answered, indeed while they had been talking to Miss Longueville, Nemo had waltz up to the building and was peering through the window. After a moment she waved Louise over. "Ok let's go, Nemo says it's empty."

Following Louise as they made their way over to the shack, Kirche was understandably put out by Louise taking charge of the situation, something she wasn't used to.

 _"I'll keep watch out here, while you and the others look for clues."_ Nemo informed Louise when they reached the door, Louise nodded as there was little Nemo could do to help them search, the group entered the shack. It wasn't long before they found something, unexpectedly it a box containing the Staff of Destruction.

"Suspicious." Tabitha commented.

Kirche agreed "Indeed, why would Fouquet abandon his prize?"

Picking up the box, Louise pondered the implications, "unless-"

 _"-It's a trap!"_ Nemo shouted.

Suddenly the roof was wrenched off the shack and Louise found herself staring up at a familiar sight, a giant golem. Kirche and Tabitha unleashed a barrage of flames and icicles at it, while Louise encumbered by the box, bolted from the shack as fast as her little legs would allow, with Nemo right behind her. Ignoring its attackers the golem turned to pursue her.

Stopping some distance away she and Nemo turned to see it approaching. _'Ok! Time to settle the score.'_ Nemo declared summoning the Mark Nemo.

Swinging its large fist, The Mark Nemo sidestepped the golem's attack as its fist smashed into the ground. Launching its blonde knives into its arm and pulling the cables taunt, Nemo severed its arm the same way as its leg the day before.

The golem quickly retaliated bringing down its other fist before Nemo severed that one as well. Nemo noted that the golem was reacting quicker than last time, _'is that because I have the controller's undivided attention?'_ Nemo wondered, as the golem regenerated its arms. "Tch! This is taking too long, I'm ending this now!"

Nemo dashed toward the golem, all the while the Staff of Destruction's box bouncing around inside the cockpit unsecured. When she closed the gap she leapt into the air intending to strike the main body with her harkins. Launching all six, the golem was enveloped in a flash of light blinding her momentarily, accompanied by the sound of metal striking metal. Her vision recovered in time to see a giant metal fist hurtle towards her just before the impact sent her flying.

Turning with the blow to minimize the impact she flew through the air some distance before hitting the ground.

When she recovered Nemo saw Tabitha and Kirche riding on Sylphid (Tabitha's wind dragon familiar), continue to rain icicles and fireballs on its head but were otherwise ignored. Turning her attention to the golem she saw that its surface was covered in metal, activating her Geass she saw that it was indeed the case with one exception, the joints were still made of earth otherwise it wouldn't be able to move.

"I have to admit, that was a pretty good move," Nemo muttered more to herself. "A better one would've been to do so when my harkins were embedded inside trapping them and preventing my escape. Well, that's going to be your last mistake!"

Nemo charged the golem once again ducking under a swing of its metallic fist as she made a beeline for the gap between its legs, firing her harkins at its knee joints only for them to be deflected.

"Damn! The gap's to narrow; I have to find another angle of attack." Nemo concluded as she passed between its legs.

The controller must have anticipated this, because with unusual quickness it twisted around and clipped the Mark Nemo with a backhand swing sending her, skipping along the ground like a pebble across a lake's surface and into the trees.

In the commotion the box bouncing around the cockpit split open spilling its contents, the Staff of Destruction, which collided with the back of Nemo's head knocking her out.

When the Mark Nemo came to a stop, Nemo awoke shortly after with a splitting headache, she groaned. "Ouch! What hit me?" Feeling around she found something, "this thing?" It was cylindrical in shape, too short to be a staff as it was described; however the diameter was too wide to hold in one hand like a wand. When Nemo's fingers brushed against it the runes on her left hand lit up and information flooded into her mind.

A jostle roused Nemo from her thoughts, looking at the monitor she saw that the golem had picked up the Mark Nemo and held it at arm's length. With no time to waste, Nemo extended the inner tube and unfolding the sights, as the golem began to squeeze, finally Nemo retracted the canopy and shouldered the weapon.

"Let's see you block this one!" Wearing a savage grin, Nemo depressed the trigger and a burst of light and fire flashed behind her. Out of the front of the tube a projectile leaped out trailing fire and smoke, flying straight into the golem and exploding just as Nemo closed the canopy before the Mark Nemo was showered with shrapnel and debris, both it and the golem collapsed in a heap.

* * *

When they landed in the clearing, Kirche ran towards Louise who was lying half buried near the fallen golem followed closely by Tabitha.

"Louise! Are you alright?!" Kirche asked genuinely concerned for once.

"Shut up, Zerbst!" Louise groaned, she hurt all over and was covered in bruises. Touching the back of her head where the staff had hit her and found that her hand came away with blood she started to feel ill, Nemo mind you wasn't looking much better either, though she no visible injuries her face was paler than usual and wore an ill expression.

 _'Oh right, we now share the same body, if I'm in a bad way, so is she.'_ Louise remembered, suddenly a wave of relief washed over her body and to her surprise she saw that Kirche was casting 'recover' on her.

"K-kirche?" Louise stammered unable to hide her surprise.

"I've got to say Vallière, for once you came through on your boast." Kirche admitted.

"Huh?" Louise didn't recall making any recently.

"Summoning a great familiar." Kirche answered, referring to the day before the summoning, behind her Tabitha inquisitively prodded the Staff of Destruction with the butt of her staff.

"I don't suppose you captured Fouquet while we were fighting the golem did you?" Louise asked sheepishly, though she suspected she already knew the answer. Judging by Kirche's apologetic expression it was obviously a 'no.' "So he got away... again. Well at least we got the staff back."

Suddenly someone came out of the nearby bushes startling the trio. "Who's there!?" Kirche demanded as she and Tabitha brandished their wand and staff.

"Miss Longueville?" Recognizing the woman, Louise and Kirche let out a sigh of relief as neither was in any condition to keep fighting. As their guide made her way to them they saw that she looked extremely tired a clear sign of willpower depletion, she must have had a run in with Fouquet they assumed.

"Good job girls." She praised them before scooping up the Staff of Destruction. To their surprise she then backed up a few steps back away from them, before hefting the staff onto her shoulder just as Nemo had not so long ago and pointed it at them. "Now if you'll so kindly throw down your wands."

* * *

"What's the meaning of this?" Kirche demanded, as the three girls reluctantly discarded their wands.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself." Longueville smirked. "I am Fouquet, the crumbling dirt and you have been a wonderful help to me." She reveled in the shock in their expressions.

"H-help?" Louise scowled at the idea of helping a lowly thief. "How...?"

"The staff," Tabitha pointed out.

"Exactly," Fouquet explained. "After stealing the Staff of Destruction I needed to test it, so that when I sell it there would be no doubt to its authenticity and my buyers would be willing to part with their _hard_ earned gold. However I wasn't able to make it work." She paused for a moment as she recalled her attempts to destroy the nearby shack, all ending failure.

"I realized that I needed someone from the academy to show me and much to my irritation had to go back. So I hatched a plan to lure out a number of the teaching staff by revealing Fouquet's location." She chuckled, "and force them into using the staff, before stealing it again."

She scowled at the three girls. "But it turns out that they're all cowards and I got saddled with you three brats instead," her mood lightened as she fixed her gaze on Louise. "But it's not all bad; after all imagine my surprise that _you_ were the owner of the familiar that injured me."

"Well that explains your sour mood this morning, must really hurt." Kirche quipped and indeed the ride back to the forest with her unwitting victims had been complete agony as the carriage they rode seemed to find every pothole and tree root on the road, further aggravating her still healing shoulder.

"True, but smacking that thing around with my golem served as good remedy for my ailments." She retorted, on the contrary creating the golem and then using 'transmutation' to cover it in metal had taken allot out of her, worsening her condition, which was apparent to both Kirche and Tabitha. Kirche had hoped to stall Fouquet long enough for Tabitha to reach her spare wand.

Unfortunately for them Fouquet was done talking. "Nevertheless, thank you for your help and now it's time to say goodbye." She depressed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

The three of them stared stupefied as Fouquet repeatedly pressed the trigger. "Why won't it fire?!" Seeing movement out the corner of her eye she turned back to the girls and saw Kirche and Tabitha diving for their wands. _'Shit! I took my eye off them for only a second.'_ Quickly she reached for her own.

The next thing she knew she was airborne as multiple objects sliced into her. _'What happened?! There's no way they reached their wands before I did, and there's no one else here except that familiar...'_ Realization dawned on her that she had not accounted for Louise's familiar whom she assumed to be buried under the remains of her golem. _'Shit! Is this how it's going to end...? Tiffania!'_ Were her last thoughts as she crash landed with thud.

"Tabitha, is that how I looked when that happened to me?" Was the last thing Fouquet heard before the world faded to black.

* * *

Upon returning to the Academy they were ushered to the headmaster's office where Osmond and Colbert awaited them. There he informed them that Fouquet was being handed over to the Palace Guard to be taken to Genoa Prison located in the capital city of Tristiania.

Both teachers were relieved that all three of them had returned relatively unharmed, although of the three Louise was the worse for wear, having escaped with a lump on her head, a couple of bruises and clothes covered in dirt after nearly been buried alive under a golem, otherwise she was perfectly fine when she presented Osmond with the Staff of Destruction.

She informed him that the staff was no longer a threat as it apparently a one use weapon, none of the girls were aware of the relief it brought to the aging headmaster that the one he had buried with its original owner was equally harmless should someone stumble across it. Nemo had said as much after subduing Fouquet, considering how calm she had been during the moment, clearly she had expected it not to work, however Louise hadn't been able to warn the others without tipping the thief off.

The headmaster informed them that Louise and Kirche would be bestowed the title of Chevalier, while Tabitha who already had the title would receive the Elven Medallion instead.

* * *

In the Great Hall located on top of the Alviss Dining Hall where the Ball of Frigg resumed in celebration of the return of the Staff of Destruction and the capture of the infamous thief Fouquet.

Dressed in a white evening gown with her long, strawberry hair tied up into a pony tail, her hands were covered by pure white gloves. Louise had no shortage of dance partners as Nemo watched from the sidelines.

On the of the dance floor, Kirche was surrounded by a group of boys, talking and laughing, one of them was Guiche. "Ah Kirche," Guiche dramatized. "Had I known of your quest, I would've come as well to bring the thief to justice with my Valkyries."

"Indeed it was a pity you couldn't join us, your alchemy would have come in handy against the golem." Kirche admitted, "oh well, I guess we'll just have to hand this victory to Vallière."

"The Zero?" One of the boys said in disbelief, "surely she couldn't of helped that much."

"You never know," Kirche answered, "she might surprise you."

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 6 -**


	7. Proof of Virtue

**\- Proof of Virtue -**

* * *

It had been two days since her capture at the hands of those three brats and their brute of a familiar.

Fouquet was staring idly at the ceiling of her prison cell. As she was infamous for stealing valuable treasure from the various nobles, she was placed in the City of Tristain's maximum security prison Genoa; the prison walls and iron bars were enchanted to resist magic. Not that she could attempt it in the first place as they had confiscated her wand, even the utensils she ate with were made of wood. _'If only the spoon was made of metal,'_ she thought, _'things would be very different.'_

She shifted her position on the shoddy looking bed they had provided her in discomfort, as her scars continued to ache. Despite having two triangle mages - two of the brats - tending her injuries, they only knew basic healing spells, enough to prevent her from bleeding out form her severe wounds.

The ride back to the academy had been agony until mercifully the academy healers took over treating her. However unlike the Germanian brat - who had been dealt similar injures a few days earlier - the healers spared little expense in treating her, as such she now had six unsightly scars traveling vertically up her back, front and sides.

Fouquet grimaced at the memory and shifted once more. Then she heard someone walking down into the dungeon, it wasn't the warden, as they didn't wear spurs on their boots. One of the mage knights perhaps?

Sitting up quickly, a person wearing a black cloak appeared next to her cell.

"A visitor? In the middle of night!" She exclaimed in mock surprise, he gave her a cold stare. "Have you come to silence me?" She asked, knowing that some of the items she had stolen had in turn been already stolen from others to begin with.

"I am here to recruit my comrade Fouquet the Crumbling Earth, or rather... Mathilda of Saxe-Gotha."The man answered.

Her face became pale at the mention of her real name, looking closer at the man's face, she recognized him."Wait, I know you... I've seen you before!"

* * *

For Louise and the others, the past three days since their involvement in capturing Fouquet nothing much was happening other than the usual monotony. Tabitha briefly returned home to Gallia with Kirche in tow, there was also a brief ruckus between Guiche and Montmorency which had quickly sorted itself out in short order - whatever that was about.

Not long after, the four of them had returned at the same time to the academy, _together._

After classes finished for the day, Louise returned to her room to drop off her books before going to dinner, as always she was shadowed by her unseen familiar who grumbled continuously in boredom. When she entered her room she found that was someone already waiting got her. "Louise?" A familiar voice spoke.

Louise recognized the girl sitting at the table, "Princess?"

"Louise! Louise!"Henrietta cried with joy as she enveloped Louise.

"Princess!" Louise returned the hug with equal fever.

 _'Good grief,'_ Nemo thought, _'you'd have thought it had been four years since they'd last seen one another, rather than days.'_ She then noticed that propped up on a chair seated at the table with a cup of tea steaming in front of him, was Derf.

 _"What are you doing? Or rather, what do you think you're doing?"_ Nemo asked.

Derf started by stating the obvious. "Drinking tea with the Princess."

 _"Uh-huh." _ Naturally she wasn't inclined to believe him, _"You haven't been telling her dirty jokes have you? And while you're at it why is there a teacup in front of you? I highly doubt the Princess poured it."_

Derf became rather defensive. "First of all, I don't know what fanfic you've been reading, but I never tell dirty jokes - though I am inclined to teasing flat-chested little girls. As for the teacup... I'm not sure when this got here, I mean it's not like I can drink the stuff, let alone pour one. Though I must admit it has a rather pleasant aroma."

Nemo's skepticism was plain as day.

"Oh, come on, cut me some slack. It's been three whole chapters since my last scene-" Nemo silenced Derf's nonsense by shoving him back into his sheath.

 _"The merchant was right,"_ She muttered to herself while holding the sword in place as it struggled to free itself, _"The only thing magical about you is your ability to blabber all day."_

Back with Louise the Henrietta had something important to tell her. "Louise, I'm... getting married" She informed her in a sad tone.

"...You have my congratulations." Louise spoke in a subdued tone.

"It is planned for me to marry the Emperor of Germania and forge an alliance to protect our country should the civil war in Albion spill over onto the mainland." Henrietta explained.

"Of all the countries we be allied with, it had to be Germania." Louise grumbled, Tristain and Germania had a less than amicable history together.

"It's ok Louise, as the heir to the throne I have to put my country's well being before my own, or so the Cardinal keeps telling me." She said before continuing, "However there is one thing I need to do before I can marry."

"If it's anything I can help you with Princess, you need only ask it." Louise immediately offered.

"Oh, Louise Françoise, thank you. I need you to retrieve a letter from Wales in Albion for me, if it falls into the wrong hands my engagement to the Emperor will be called off." Henrietta sat at the desk, with Louise's feather quill and some parchment, wrote out a letter. "Give this letter to Prince Whales when you meet him. Also to prove that you're my representative, I give you The Founder's Ring of Water."

Removing the ring form her right hand she gave it to Louise along with the letter. "It will be a perilous journey. If Albion learns of your mission they'll do everything in their power to stop you." Henrietta warned.

"Take me with you!" Derf shouted, the two girls turned towards the commotion. Louise saw Nemo trying to wrestle Derf back into his sheath. "I'm not spending the next three chapters stuck in your room by myself."

"That might be for the best Louise," Henrietta agreed, "Considering your difficulties with magic, you'll need to be able to defend yourself should you be discovered."

"But I have Nemo!" Louise argued tearfully, having her _difficulties_ highlight had always been a sore spot for her.

"Nemo is indeed formidable, given she has enough space to fight. Indoors however a sword would serve you better."Henrietta reasoned.

"Ha! You hear that Nemo, you're too fat to fit indoors. Ha, ha!" The swords slight didn't go unpunished for long as Nemo suddenly wedged Derf between the door and the door frame and was now attempting to convert him into an L-bracket through the application of brute force.

* * *

On the other side of Louise's door, Guiche who while pursuing the flower of Tristain - the lovely Princess Henrietta - was listening(less elegant people would call it eavesdropping) at the keyhole curious as to the reason for her visit to 'the Zero. 'After a few minutes of _listening_ , he got quite the fright when a rusted blade sprung out from between the door and door frame missing his collarbone by an inch.

It took all his remaining faculties to stifle the panicked yelp when he thought he'd been discovered, however a voice on the other side was pleading for mercy told him otherwise. Even so Guiche wisely made himself scarce and began tiptoeing towards the stairs.

As he did so, one of the doors opened and something latched onto his leg. Guiche glanced down nervously to see what had ensnared him; it turned out to be a salamander - Kirche's salamander.

"Guiche, what are you doing sneaking around the girl's dorm?" Kirche asked from the doorway.

"Ummmm..." He tried to come up with a plausible excuse, "Mont-"

"-Montmorency's room isn't on this floor." She pointed out, she may be flirty but she was far from dumb. "And you seemed more interested in snooping around Vallière's door." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Guiche grimaced; caught in a lie he tried to dismiss the whole event. "Vallière's? Don't be silly."

Quickly realizing that she wouldn't get anything from him this way, she changed her approach. "That reminds me, I still haven't rewarded you for your heroism last week," she purred seductively clinging to his arm, which was quickly enveloped by her captivating bust, the top two buttons left undone gave an impressive view if her tanned cleavage.

"R-reward...?" He stammered barely remembering what she promised him - or at least what he thought she promised him. Suffice to say, Guiche's resistance inevitably broke down and Kirche- with some help from Flame - dragged him back into her room, where he wouldn't be seen again for some time.

* * *

Back inside Louise's room, Derf's pleas went unheeded as Louise and Henrietta continued to discuss her assignment.

"Also as an extra precaution, I'm assigning one of my mage knights to accompany you." Henrietta assured her.

"I'll do my best." Louise bowed her head.

"In that case, I'd best take my leave." With that Henrietta made her way to the door. "Oh, where did Nemo go to? I wanted to say something to her. Oh well. Don't worry Derf I'll let you out." When she opened the door to release Derf from his plight, she incidentally sent both Nemo and Derf sprawling across the floor. "Oh my, that was unexpected."

* * *

When dawn broke, Louise and Nemo left for the stables, upon exiting the girl's dorms they were treated to the site of five charred bodies at the base of the tower. After checking that they were still alive, Louise noted they were all second years - thanks to their black cloaks - and identified each of them as; Berisson, Styx, Manican, Ajax and Gimili, and they all have one thing in common.

Looking up she saw the charred remains of Kirche's window. _"Guess the boys got a little to frisky last night."_ Nemo remarked.

"Boys..." Louise disparaged, with the mystery solved they continued to the stables while Louise muttered, "Where is that knight already? I would've thought he'd be here by now."

Suddenly a shadow accompanied by a gust of wind drew their attention skyward. From above a Griffin descended towards them, with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, its wings made up of beautiful white feathers.

On its back sat a young, breathtakingly sharp-looking noble sporting a feather hat, a medal of a Griffin fastened to his black cape and spurs on his boots. Louise recognized him instantly, "Viscount Wardes."

 _"Gee, how subtle. Nobody would've ever guessed we were from Tristain."_ Nemo snarked, she had a similar remark about Louise's choice of dress - her school uniform - though she did have the sense to exchange her regular shoes for riding boots. Louise ignored her comment just as she had back then.

"Ah, Louise." He said quickly dismounting the Griffin upon landing and taking her hand in his."So sorry to surprise you, but I was under the impression that my finance was in trouble."

Louise was at a loss for words when he lifted her up with both hands. "Ah, you are as light as always. Like a bird's feather." he chuckled, then he noticed the sword slung over her back.

"My dear, why are you bringing a blade of all things with you?" He asked, "Surely such a thing is unnecessary?"

A little embarrassed Louise answered. "I said as much to the Princess, but she insisted I take it as a precaution."

Wardes expression became thoughtful for a moment. "I guess there's nothing to be done about it. I was concerned that it would draw unnecessary attention."

 _"And you two don't?"_ Nemo snarked, once again Louise ignored her.

"Come, we'd make better time by flying." With that decided, he carried her up to the Griffin seating her in front of him. With the reins in one and his wand in the other, he shouted, "on wards!" The Griffin stepped forward and took to the sky.

* * *

It turned out that by flying they were making great time."Honestly I was surprised to see you. I had no idea that you would be the one escort us."Louise said informally.

"It would be impossible to mobilize the entire squadron on a mission of this nature." He explained, "When I heard that it was you leading it, I personally asked to guard you on your mission."

Grateful for his company, Louise expressed her gratitude. "Thank you Viscount."

"I see you chose to leave your familiar behind," Wardes noted, "makes sense, it's a bit big for this kind of work."

"Hmm...? Oh, you mean Nemo, no she's still with us, and she's very close." Louise informed him offhandedly.

"Close you say?" Wardes scanned the ground behind them, seeing no movement he said, "If you say so my dear."

Unknown to Wardes, Nemo was seated behind them with her back to his watching the academy shrink into the distance. Her incorporeal form leaving both Wardes and his Griffin none the wiser.

* * *

When they finally reached the port city of La Rochelle they stopped at the fanciest hotel in the city - The Goddess's Temple. It was a very fancy place even by noble standards, the dining tables and floors were made from the same marble and the floor was so clean that you could see your face reflected in it.

It used to be a castle designed for repelling Albion invasions, there's a parade ground in the center which was now a place for debris and refuse with empty beer barrels and crates scattered all over the place.

Nemo groaned as the group once again took leave of their common sense. Ok, sure they would've looked out of place in a dingy hotel, but being a port city there were lots of dingy hotels and anyone looking for them would have to check each and every one of them. There however was only one fancy hotel and it would the first place you would look for a pair of upper-class twits.

Seating themselves at one of the tables, said twits - Louise and Wardes - ordered something to eat. While they waited for the food to arrive, they passed the time with idle chitchat.

"Word at the palace is that you were able to summon an impressive golem as your familiar, one that is surprisingly agile despite its size." Wardes recalled, "One that bested not one but two high ranking mages. An impressive achievement I must say.

While Nemo muttered something about blabbermouths, Louise considered Wardes praise.

"I guess you could call it a golem, though I don't think that's an accurate description..." She murmured, of course Wardes was referring to the Mark Nemo. Nemo had used a different term, one that didn't make sense to her.

By this time their meals were set down in front of them and the pair quietly ate. When they finished Wardes spoke once more, "Our ship doesn't leave for two days, we should head up to our room and rest up."

"Our room?!" Louise squeaked. Nemo groaned it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Entering their room, Louise sat on the sofa as Wardes popped the cork on a bottle of wine and began pouring two glasses. "Your father had always compared your magic to your sisters; I remember you always hid in that small boat on the lake." He recalled handing her a glass.

Louise recalled the memory, after she had been scolded by her mother; Louise had hid in the bushes near the house to escape the servants looking for her. Once she had eluded them she'd make her way to the central lake and in the middle of the lake was a small island, next to it a small boat.

No one came to the forgotten lake, that's why Louise would always hide there under a blanket where only Wardes and her sister Cattleya knew where to find her.

"Even back then I felt a power emanating from you unlike any other." Wardes continued, "You have a very special power Louise, and you're the only one that wields it."

"That's not true," she denied, "I always mess up the spells." Not even the power Nemo had given her could tell her why.

As she stared dejectedly at the table in front of her, Wardes standing behind her with his own looking into his glass changed the subject. "So you know, I don't intend to lead the Griffin Knights forever. When this mission is over, let us be wed. Marry me Louise."

Startled by his request she turned towards him and stammered, "W-why are you bringing this up now of all times?!"

Taking her hand in his, he looked into her eyes and said, "Because I need you by my side."

Nemo watching the scene unfold, would've vomited if it had been physically possible for her. Louise despite been overwhelmed however answered, "Well ok, but it is so sudden."

Responding to her answer Wardes leaned in and kissed her, "For now let's rest till morning, good night my Louise."

* * *

When morning came, both Louise and Nemo were greeted by a sight most unexpected.

"Ha! Found you Vallière and on the first try too." It was Kirche of all people, behind her was Tabitha - who still in her pajamas - with her wind dragon and surprisingly Guiche whose appearance was unkempt and for some reason had a black eye.

"Kirche? What are you here? More importantly how did you even find us!?" She demanded.

"Well, to answer your second question Vallière, we figured that you'd be in one of the high-end hotels and we were planning to search them all. But on the off chance that you had expensive tastes and that your companion could somehow afford it we decided-"

"-She decided."Guiche interjected tending to his black eye.

"-to rule out the most prodigious hotel first and surprise-surprise here you are!" Unseen to all Nemo face-palmed. Kirche continued, "Now if you had been in one of numerous cheap hotels, we'd have to search the city top-to-bottom to find you and that would've taken the three of us forever. As for your first question that's going to take some explaining."

Louise stood there aghast while Nemo looked for a nearby wall to beat her head against.

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 7 -**

* * *

 **AN: The next few chapters will be focused on Kirche and Tabitha, as Louise and Co won't be doing anything interesting for a bit. Of course, this being Kirche we're talking about, so fair warning; there is going to be some mature content.**

 **Also I've setup a poll on my profile, so please take a look and vote.**


	8. Tag a Long

**\- Tag a Long -**

* * *

Once she had half dragged, half persuaded Guiche into her room - with a little help from her familiar, Flame - Kirche began her interrogation. It didn't take much effort on her part, she questioned him after she pinned him to the bed. Naturally he was reluctant to tell her and tried to distract her with small talk, undoing the buttons on her blouse one by one did wonders to loosen his tongue, each one revealing another piece of the puzzle as well as more of her tanned skin. It didn't long to piece together his story.

To Kirche's surprise it was revealed that the Princess of Tristain had been present in Louise's room, where a secretive issue of great importance was been discussed. Guiche had refused to speak any further on the matter, citing his loyalty to the Princess.

A glimpse of Kirche's bare legs fixed that, as Guiche finally revealed that the Prince of Albion was in possession of a document that could endanger the alliance between Tristain and her country of Germania.

Satisfied that she'd learned all she could from him, she decided to make good on her promise she made earlier, so that he wouldn't become resentful. Moving in close to give him a passionate kiss, Guiche did something she didn't expect... he passed out.

To say that she was disappointed didn't quite describe how she felt at that moment. "Guiche, for someone who acts like a playboy you can be such a child." After letting out an exasperated sigh she realized it was time for dinner, straightening out her skirt and buttoning up her blouse she headed down to the dining hall to get something to eat leaving Guiche lying where he was.

After a light meal, she returned to her room with something for Guiche suspecting that hunger may have roused him from dreamland - isn't that usually how it worked with men - only to find that was not the case. She had hoped to salvage the night by turning it into a dinner date, but he continued to disappoint her.

As punishment she helped herself to his share, deciding that he could go hungry for the night - seriously, this is what you get for keeping a girl waiting - all the while she thought over what she had learned about the situation at large.

All in all, as a member of the Germanian nobility she was duty bound to report such a scandal to the Germanian ambassadors who were residing in Tristain's capital negotiating the finer details of the marriage alliance. However the pragmatist in her cautioned against such rash action; on the one hand, the civil war in Albion was wrapping up with the ever aggressive Reconquista as the guaranteed victor.

On the other hand, it was clear that Tristain couldn't repulse any invasion by Reconquista without aid from Germania and if Reconquista was half as serious about their quest to unite the kingdoms under their banner and push east towards reclaiming the Holy Lands, that would mean that either Gallia or her homeland Germania would be invaded next. With her home estate on Tristain's eastern border next to the Vallière estate, her home would most likely become the new front-line should Reconquista invade.

 _'Therefore,'_ She concluded, _'it would be best to use Tristain as a buffer, conducting all fighting within Tristain's borders rather than within the homeland. But that would mean helping Vallière.'_ The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.

Uncertain as to whether she should assist or not, she decided to sleep on the matter and make a decision in the morning. With that in mind, she changed out of her uniform and into a purple sheer sleeveless nightgown that flowed to the floor, embroidery decorated the bust and hem, with an open front joined by a white ribbon tied in bow that exposed her cleavage, navel and matching panties that she wore underneath.

Once she was done, she turned her attention back to the bed and its snoring occupant. She was tempted to leave him out in the hallway, hoping the cold floor would rouse him and he would discretely return to the boy's dorms. However with his luck, he'd be caught by one of the girls or worse, a teacher. Questions would be asked and Guiche would most like raise a stink over it.

In the end she decided against it and pushed him to one side of the bed. Better to let him think he got lucky than for him to become resentful towards her and express open dissent towards her. She'd hate to have to change schools again so soon after the last.

Miraculously - or perhaps he somehow sensed how little she was wearing - Guiche choose that exact moment to wake up. _'If the first words out of his mouth is, "I'm hungry," I'll throttle him.'_

To his credit- or lack of - the first thing he said was, "Kirche?"

 _'Well, that's an improvement over earlier,'_ She thought.

A glimpse through the nearby window told Guiche that night had fallen. "Have I been here all evening?" He asked.

"Afraid so," She replied folding her arms under her impressive bust, this had the - mostly - unintended effect of drawing his attention to what she was wearing, or rather lack thereof. _'I guess third time's the charm,'_ she thought seeing where this was going.

Slowly with closed eyes, she approached him with her lips. However, at that moment a voice from outside the window interrupted her. One of Guiche's classmates appeared at the window looking inside indignantly. "Kirche... I came to check because you weren't there on time..."

"Berisson! We'll meet in two hours later then!" Honestly she had been so caught up in Guiche's revelation that she had forgotten all about her meeting with him.

"That wasn't what we agreed on!" He argued. Had she mentioned that she hated pushy men?

Nonchalantly she removed her wand from her cleavage - given how revealing her nightgown was, Guiche wondered how he hadn't noticed it beforehand - and waved it without even looking. Flame shot out from a nearby lamp and flowed into Berisson like a snake. Guiche watched in shock as his classmate plummeted from the third story window.

"What an annoying owl," She said not taking her eyes off Guiche. "Now where were we...?"

When he pried his eyes away from the window, it was to find Kirche's lips approaching once more. Guiche didn't move as an irresistible desire came over him. Then they were interrupted again.

"Kirche! Who is that guy? Aren't you going to heat up the night with me?" Yet another of his classmates appeared at the windowsill.

"Styx!" Kirche exclaimed, wasn't she supposed to meet up with Berisson today? Had she gotten her schedule mixed up, again? "How does four hours later sound?"

"Is that Guiche in there?" Styx demanded, he was about to climb through the window when Kirche waved her wand once more. Another flame struck him, and sent him to the ground.

This time instead of returning to the kiss, she set her wand aside and her hands grasped the ends of the white bow that secured the front of her gown together - whatever good that did - slowly she pulled the ends in a provocative manner. Guiche watched in anticipation as the loops of ribbon continued to shrink until they vanished and the knot popped open. For the most part Kirche's gown continued to cover her breasts; however with the bow undone both sides of the open front parted enough to unveil the valley that was Kirche's impressive cleavage.

Grabbing his wrists, she placed his hands on her lovely tanned legs and guided them up along her thighs to her hips. Before they could continue further a groan came from the window. Both of them impatiently turned around to find three of their classmates looking in.

"Kirche! What the hell is this?!"

"You said you don't have any lovers!"

Kirche identified the first two, "Manican! Ajax!"

"Guiche? What on earth are you doing here? Since when were you pursuing Kirche?"

Guiche the last, "Gimili? Why are you here?"

"Don't you see that we're kind of busy here?"She said irritably, the boys however disagreed. Kirche at this point was rather cross and responded accordingly."Flame," she commanded the salamander- that had been sleeping in the corner of the room - lifted its head and unleashed a jet of flame that engulfed the trio, within moments they joined the other two at the base of the tower where Louise would find them the next morning.

Once that was taken care of, they picked up where they left off. From their place on her hips, Kirche guided his hands up and under her gown along her sides. The higher his hands traveled, the more the open front of her gown peeled back increasingly exposing her magnificent twin peaks, soon he'll see them in all their glory and then he'll be able to... to gras-

The first clue Kirche had that something was up, was when his arms suddenly went slack. She suspected the reason, but for Guiche's sake it better not be. Looking down she saw that it was exactly as she feared; Guiche, had passed out... again.

"That's three times you've disappointed me now." She couldn't believe it, she'd given him plenty of chances even jilted five of her lovers and this is what she got for her troubles. Furious she stood on the bed, stepped to one side and promptly kicked the idiot onto the cold hard floor. She then hopped into bed, with a clap of her hands all the lamps went out and went to sleep.

* * *

Kirche woke to the screech of a large bird and the beating of equally large wings. She glanced at the window, and found that all the glass was shattered with the frame reduced to a charred wreck. But that wasn't what caught her attention as she raced to window, absentmindedly stepping on Guiche in the process. "Hurk!?"

Watching from the remnants of her windowsill, the Griffin that woke her shrank into the distance, she noted that one of the riders had a familiar head of pink hair as she leaned out the window heedless of the fact that the front of gown was open, fortunately no one was outside at this ungodly hour in the morning. Kirche swore in her native tongue as she raced back to her wardrobe.

Guiche, whom had been rudely awakened when Kirche stepped on him, was about to demand what was going on when the sound of silk stopped him in his tracks. From the corner of his eye, Kirche's nightgown slid to the floor at her feet.

Watching only from the corner of his eye, he tilted his head ever so slightly to see her standing with her back to him before the open doors of her wardrobe wearing only her panties. Infuriatingly the first thing she did was put on a gray pleated skirt before changing her underwear, despite this Guiche didn't dare make a sound or even twitch a muscle, fearful that the magic of this moment would vanish if he was discovered.

Silently he watched as she shrugged on a white blouse, wishing if only she would turn to the side - even just a little. Instead he made do watching her lovely legs slip into a pair of thigh-high boots, when she turned his way. He quickly shut his eyes pretending to still be asleep.

"Guiche! Wake up already." She shouted, Guiche feigned waking up, but either he did too good a job of it, or he wasn't doing it fast enough for her liking as the spiked heel of her boot jabbed him painfully in the ribs.

"Hurry up!" She ordered, gathering her mantle. "We have to go after Vallière."

"Huh? Why do we have to chase after her?"He asked perplexed.

Grabbing him by the shoulders she shook him back and forth while yelling, "Have you forgotten how important it is that she succeeds?! More importantly have you forgotten her success rate?!"

"Two probably successful spells one duel and the capture of Fouquet." Guiche unhelpfully recalled it wasn't what she wanted to hear but he was distracted by the interesting things the shaking did to her chest.

Realizing this she responded appropriately; she hit him. For Guiche this was a novel experience for him, not long ago two girls slapped him one after the other, but this was the first time a girl punched him in the face. Much to his surprise, in spite of her feminine wilds she didn't refrain from fisticuffs as they came in handy when dealing with grabby men when one's wand was out of reach. Mind you she wasn't angry at him for ogling her - that's to be expected - nor for offhandedly mentioning her recent defeat at Louise's hand, but rather because she was still upset over last nights' debacle.

Done arguing, Kirche's mind went back to the task at hand; chasing Vallière. However with that Griffin, Louise had a significant head start - no thanks to Guiche wasting time - if they were going to catch up they'll need something faster than the horses in the academy's stables... the fastest creature in the academy belonged to her friend Tabitha.

Grabbing the collar of Guiche's mantle - which had acted as a makeshift blanket, throughout the night - she proceeded to drag him out into the hallway, his journey quickly became arduous when they had to traverse two flights of stone steps to the fifth floor.

* * *

Tabitha was having a wonderful dream when Kirche burst into the room. "Tabitha! Wake up! I need to borrow Sylphid!"

 _'Good grief, what is it this time?'_ She wondered as she glowered at the blurred figures at the door. She would have liked to sleep in a little longer, especially after the gathering at Kirche's window last night. Putting on her glasses, Tabitha saw that Kirche was unusually serious. She also saw that the person accompanying her was none other than Guiche - who looked back and forth at the sea of books that covered the entire floor except for a narrow path that lead from the door past the bed and to the window - turning back her friend she asked, "Why?"

"We have to go after Vallière, Tabitha." Kirche quickly explained, "It's important! I'll fill you in on the way; they've already left on a Griffin. I need your familiar to catch up!" Reluctantly Tabitha agreed but only because the situation seemed genuinely urgent and for once not one of her friend's whims.

"Oh thank you so much... let's hurry up!" Kirche urged her. Tabitha nodded, as annoying as it was, she couldn't help it if Kirche felt she had to keep tabs on her rival, especially with all that's happened lately. Still in her pajamas, she opened the window, and whistled. After a moment, she jumped out the window much to Guiche's alarm, which didn't last long when he caught a glimpse of Kirche's panties when she too jumped out after her.

Soon there was the sound of strong wing beats filled the air outside the window as an infant wind dragon - Tabitha's familiar; Sylphid - rose with both Kirche and its master on its back."Guiche! Hurry up." Kirche shouted, "Time's a wasting!"

"Why do I have to come?" Guiche argued, "Besides I can't make that jump!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Kirche reached into her cleavage to retrieve... her wand? At that time all Guiche could think of was, _'Now when did she put that there?'_ When an invisible force yanked him off his feet and out the window, flailing about he managed to latch onto the dragon's tail.

The dragon swiftly and perfectly - despite Guiche's precarious position - caught the updraft around the tower, and reached 200 mails in the air in the blink of an eye.

"Where?" Tabitha succinctly asked Kirche.

"They were heading South-West towards the port." Kirche pointed, Tabitha directed her wind dragon and it took off South-West with Guiche clinging to its tail for dear life. In the meantime Kirche began explaining to Tabitha what was going on.

* * *

"-And now we're here." Kirche said as she finished recounting her tale of how she learned about Louise's mission and followed her all the way here to the Port City of La Rochelle.

When she was done, Louise turned her furious gaze on Guiche. "Unbelievable," She growled, "she lifts her skirt and you tell her everything. Have you no shame Guiche."

Guiche was indeed ashamed and had nothing to say, Kirche however... was rather indignant, "I had to do more than lift my skirt Vallière-"

"I don't need to hear it!" Louise cut her off blushing furiously, she didn't want to even begin to think about what Kirche and Guiche got up to. "Now let me be absolutely clear, this is my mission. And. You. Can. Not. Come!"

"Now Louise," Kirche reasoned, "you don't need to be so stubborn, we're only trying to help."

"Help? I don't need your help!" Louise raged, "Why should I anyway, huh? It's not like you've ever been helpful before. In fact, I'd describe the past year as completely unhelpful."

Kirche winced; it was after all true, coming from a families who were both rivals at best and enemies at worse depending on politics of the time. And while this also extended to the other students who were born into Tristainian nobility - even Tabitha who heralded from Gallia had been no exception the previous year - Louise however had proven to be an exceptionally easy target, even the other students who should have closed ranks around her to defend her against an outsider from Germania such as Kirche, instead they to heckled her.

Taking a calming breath she said, "Look, Vallière. I know we have never been on the best of terms-"

"-You could say that again." Louise butted in.

"-But you and I, both know that this is too important." Kirche continued, "I'm not saying that we have to be friends, just that we put aside our rivalry this once, for both our countries."

Wardes who had been watching silently up to this point spoke up. "I'm afraid that course of action presents us with a complication. Her Highness chose us specifically to prevent the officials of Germania from learning of this incident, bringing you along would be counter-intuitive."

Seeing Kirche's look of determination Louise released a sigh of defeat and said, "Fine." Before turning to Wardes, "There's no point in trying to stop her, if we send her back she'll follow us anyway and we can't silence her because it would cause problems for the Princess. All we can do is drag her along with us so we can keep a close eye on her."

Wardes' expression was thoughtful for a moment before agreeing, "It is as you say my dear, and your reasoning is impeccable as always."

"That's great and all, but before we leave can we at least get something to eat. I'm Starving." Guiche complained and as if on cue, his stomach grumbled equally as loud.

"And whose fault was that." Kirche muttered under her breath.

"You may," Wardes informed him before addressing the group, "Regardless of the urgency of our mission, we cannot depart until tomorrow, after the lunar eclipse tonight. I suggest you take this time to make any preparations you require." He suggested glancing at Tabitha who was still in her pajamas.

After that Louise retired to her room - citing that just talking to Kirche was exhausting - while Wardes paid for accommodations for the three of them, Afterwards the two moved to the dining for a late breakfast.

* * *

Located in the narrow streets of La Rochelle, was the dilapidated 'Golden Wine Barrel Bar,' within its confines sat the infamous thief Fouquet the Crumbling Earth. She arrived a few days before Louise's group after her benefactor had released her from the confines of Genoa prison, with instructions to hire mercenaries within the city and await his arrival for further orders. Having done the former, she waited patiently for the latter.

When the bar's door opened, a man wearing a white mask entered the bar, it was her benefactor. None of the thugs and mercenaries harried the newcomer, like her, they all knew him as their employer.

"Three interlopers have entered the city," He announced, with a wave of his black cane he created an illusion of the three in question; a young man and two young women. "It is your task to deal with them."

"I thought the plan was to separate the brat from her familiar?" She asked. She'd been looking forward to getting her revenge against the golem that had inflicted the lengthy scars across her body that even now continued to ache. The mercenaries wouldn't be much help, but she only needed them to lure out the golem so that may engage it with her own.

"The plan has changed and their interference could jeopardize my plans." He answered, "Besides if her familiar intends to travel to Albion with its master, it must reveal itself at the tree-port in order to board the ship, when it does... I'll personally take care of it."

Fouquet turned her attention back to the image of the three. The boy was vaguely familiar to her, but that mattered little her, the girls however... she recognized both from the day she was captured. The first was a slim girl who was rather short with blue hair and eyes, holding a staff taller than herself. Most of the merc's leered at the image of the second, a buxom redhead with tanned skin.

"You know, I was rather looking forward to my rematch earlier, however..." She smiled cruelly, "I think these two will entertain me and company just fine. As the old saying goes, 'two out of three ain't bad." She and the others in the bar laughed.

* * *

Back at 'The Goddess's Temple,' Kirche and the others were ready for dinner. They sat at separate tables, Louise and Wardes at one while the rest sat at another. Kirche wasn't happy with the arrangement but the not so warm welcome she received from the pair made her back off a bit so as not to push her luck.

Next to her sat Tabitha who was digging into a salad. Before following Kirche to dining hall, Tabitha had changed out of her pajamas and into her school uniform, Turns out that she kept a travel pack containing spare cloths and other necessities in the event of a hasty departure. While across from them was Guiche who was eating with better manners than he had displayed earlier that day now that he wasn't starving, his black eye had even faded having spent the whole day treating it with healing spells.

As they finished their dinner, Guiche tried to make conversation, but unfortunately Tabitha had her head buried in a book titled, 'The Hero of Ivalid' that had been included in her pack. This meant that Kirche couldn't engage her in - limited - conversation while ignoring Guiche, and Vallière and the mage knight Wardes had already retired to their room; this time around she had to give him time of day.

"Umm... Kirche, about last night..." He started.

"What about it?" She asked apathetically.

"I... was wondering. Would you care to try again tonight?" He asked somewhat hopeful.

Kirche grimaced."Nope," she flatly told him.

"No?" He repeated dumbstruck.

"Of course not. I repaid my debt to you at the lake remember, so I didn't have to invite you into my room after all." She pointed out, not too long ago Guiche had fallen afoul of Montmorency's extremely potent love potion. The pair had raced to Ragdorian Lake to obtain an essential regent necessary to undo the spell; unfortunately Tabitha - accompanied by Kirche - had been tasked by Gallia's King to pacify the water spirit which had been raising the water level of the lake flooding neighboring lands.

It hadn't been required of them to help Guiche, but because Kirche still owed him for his dashing rescue at the time and she had helped them obtain the regent while at same time pacifying the water spirit when it extracted the promise from them; that they would retrieve its stolen treasure for it. If not for Kirche he would still be under the effects of the potion.

"Besides, you got a good look at me this morning, didn't you?"Her question was of course rhetorical.

Guiche gulped, _'How did she find out? What gave me away?'_

"Not that I mind of course, it's only natural-" Guiche breathed a sigh of relief, usually these circumstances didn't end well, "-provided that I give permission first!" With that she drove the spiked heel of her boot into his shin from under the table.

"Brutal," Tabitha commented.

"Oh please Tabitha." Kirche said dismissively. "If I wanted to be brutal, there's a better and more painful spot I could've kicked him from here."

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 8 -**


	9. Ambush

**Important AN: Ok guys and gals,** **without giving away too many spoilers, but feeling that it would be prudent to give you advanced warning,** **here's a heads up** **; There's going to be quite a bit of mature content in this chapter as Kirche & co undergo a 'trial-by-fire' so to speak and I apologize in advance for any anxiety or distress it may cause - I know I had some anxiety writing this chapter(mostly asking myself 'Do I dare take it in this direction?') - due to the nature of the content I felt I should treat it with the seriousness it deserves and not play it for laughs, so I hope you can bare with me. The story should tone ******back** down to normal by next chapter and hopefully I won't have to write another one like this... for a while at least.  
**

* * *

 **\- Ambush -**

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Louise was presented with odd request... from Wardes of all people.

"You want to spar with Nemo?" To say that his request surprised her would be an understatement.

"Yes." He answered in all seriousness, "I am most curious about your familiar. I've heard much about how it dueled against your rival Miss Zerbst in your place and how it battled against Fouquet's golem. Both times it came out the victor and I have yet to lay eyes on it."

"I see..." Louise tried to think of how to tell him that; flattering as it was now wasn't the time.

"You said that it managed to keep pace with us all the way here, yes?" He asked.

"Umm... yes." She reluctantly answered; she was starting to regret offhandedly mentioning Nemo's presence and judging by Nemo's expression her familiar was of like mind.

Nemo's response was predictably sarcastic, ' _Remind Sir Knight that this is a covert mission and that sparing with a golem is anything but covert.'_

"About that Sir Wardes, I don't think it's a good idea to rough-house with Nemo." Louise answered honestly, "Besides the risk of injury is too high, ask Kirche, better yet just ask Fouquet."

* * *

While Louise and Wardes were talking, the others had split up and headed into town. Despite having already gotten any necessary supplies they needed the day before, today was more for relaxation and leisure before departing for Albion. Guiche went out in search of a local tavern where the barmaids were reputed to be frivolous. Tabitha went to an out of the way bookstore where she had spotted a rare book the day before. Kirche normally would have accompanied her, but wasn't much into books, instead she headed for the markets to peruse the stalls. As they proceeded to their individual destinations, a solitary figure watched them form a rooftop.

Upon seeing each of them separate, Fouquet signaled the three groups of mercenaries as to the location and heading of their respective targets. Her employer had given the mercs complete discretion on how to eliminate their targets, despite her misgivings at least in regards to their intended method towards the redhead. However she was a thief not a soldier and she didn't know the best way to coordinate common soldiers against a mage and as such she preferred to work alone. As for the redhead, all she could do was wish her luck and that she fought well.

* * *

In the marketplace Kirche browsed the wares of numerous stalls all the while chatting and flirting with various merchants as she haggle the prices for trinkets that had caught her eye, all the while unaware that she was being watched by a number of unsavory characters.

"There she is, just as the thief said she'd be." Said one individual in hushed tone.

"Got a ripe pair on her." Another leered before the first cuffed him across the back of the head, though his excitement was understandable, though detrimental to the job - he was new to this group of scared, battle hardened mercs, made evident by the fact that he himself had no visible past injuries -since most mages they went up against were men, it was rare for a woman to be their target and they intended to make the most of it.

"You can ogle her tits later. Until we get her wand away from her, the only way you'll be able to play with those without being roasted is in your dreams," Said the leader, "Now keep your eyes peeled for her wand."

The group wondered the outskirts of the marketplace as casually as possible, keeping a safe distance to avoid being spotted but always keeping the girl in sight.

When she paused at a stall facing towards them, they pretended to peruse the nearby stalls or converse amongst themselves while discreetly observing her. Doing so while she was facing them had a higher risk of being spotted - ogling not withstanding - but provided a better angle for locating her wand as a mages preference for capes made it difficult to do so from behind, fortunately the girl's vanity put the odds in their favor.

"Any sign?"The leader inquired.

"None," the first one responded, "perhaps she keeps it under her skirt."

"Maybe it's between her legs." The ogler Sniggered only to get his ears boxed. She must have found something she liked because she stopped to haggle, which apparently involved showing off her cleavage.

"Hey! I see it," The ogler hissed.

"Where?" The leader demanded as the grouped strained not to turn and look as a group.

"You're gonna like this," Said the ogler. "She's keeping it between her melons."

Watching carefully as she leaned forward, they saw that she had indeed something down the front of her blouse and it ain't no corset.

"Looks like your good for something after all," The leader remarked.

Cautiously the other asked, "Think that's the only one she's got?"

"According to the thief, she's a student. If she has a spare it's in her luggage back at the hotel." The leader answered. "Split up and gather the others, we've only one shot at this."

* * *

After arranging for her latest purchase to be delivered to her home estate, Kirche continued her shopping spree. One would wonder why she would do so considering her reason for being in La Rochelle in the first place; truthfully she was taking advantage of a rare opportunity.

The marketplace was packed with both goods to sell and customers to buy them, business was booming as the floating continent of Albion approached in anticipation of the merchant fleets that would depart and arrive over the next few days and though they had yet to do so, many merchants offloaded their goods to make room for goods from Albion to distribute inland.

There was a similar trading hub near her family estate within Germania's western and southern borders, nestled on eastern edge of the mountain range that separated Tristian from Gallia. However it was too far away to trade with Albion, not even the richest, most profitable merchants could afford enough wind stones to make such a journey, even when the floating continent was closest to the mainland.

As such the marketplace was full of merchants from all over the continent, most of them Tristainians and Gallians. There were also a few Romalians and Germanians who had made the long trek from their distant homelands which Kirche took the time to speak with.

Albion's merchants however weren't present in the marketplace; they had already loaded their goods onto their ships at the port and were now waiting to depart for Albion, to sell the goods they'd acquired back within their country.

One of the merchants approached her, "Excuse me Milady, may I interest you in my wares?" He asked.

"What are you selling?" She inquired looking over the stalls trying to determine which wares were his.

"I am afraid that none of these are mine," He answered gesturing to the stalls around them before explaining, "unfortunately we are late arrivals and all the prime spots were already taken. As such I had to setup in the nearby alley; I even had to hire a guard detail to protect my wares while I seek out customers, instead of customers seeking me." He pointed to a nearby alley where several guards stood.

 _'No wonder he had to look for customers'_ she thought. "It must've cost you quite a bit to hire so many guards." She sympathized.

The merchant shrugged saying, "It would cost me more if I let thieves run off with my goods."

Kirche was intrigued, usually the back alleys of any marketplace was a harbor for thieves and pickpockets looking for an easy score. However the fact that he had a guard detail meant that; one, he was wealthy enough to afford it; and two he had something of value worth guarding... and perhaps even buying.

Not afraid to take a gamble she took him up on his offer and followed him down the alley, as they entered the guards followed after them at a respectful distance. _'How thoughtful of them to provide an escort.'_ She thought. However as they traveled further into the alley she saw no sign of a stall. She wondered, "Is it in one of these buildi- oof!"

Kirche was cut off when she was suddenly thrown against the wall, momentarily stunning her. While she was dazed, a pair of hands tore open the front of her blouse and her wand fell out onto the ground followed by several buttons torn free by the violent motion. It was kicked away and her assailant then began to fondle her exposed breasts.

Kirche had recovered somewhat at this point and saw that her assailant was in fact the merchant that had led her into the alley. "You are indeed ripe for the picking milady." He leered squeezing her breasts painfully.

Winching, she struck out, driving the heel of her boot into his shin. Her attacker cried out releasing her to grasp his injured leg, remembering the men that had followed them into alley she fled down the alley abandoning her wand, with them being so close behind, she'd be caught before she could chant a single spell if she tried to retrieve it.

Right now her plan was to lose them in the back alleys and retreat to the relative safety of the hotel where Wardes and Louise were waiting. _'To think, that the one day I forgot to bring a spare is the day I have to turn to a Vallière for protection, I'll never hear the end of it!'_

But as she rounded the corner she ran into another group of armed men. She tried to backpedal but they were too close and they managed to grab a hold of her, in short order they had her bound and gagged before throwing a large sack over her and securing it with rope. She instinctively struggled against her abductors, thought it was fruitless gesture.

Unable to see anything Kirche had to rely on her hearing, even so she had to strain her ears as the fabric muffled their voices.

"-That was careless of you, if we hadn't been waiting here she would've got away and we'd be chasing her throughout the alleys." She heard one say, no doubt reprimanding her assailant.

"Hey! I managed to get her wand away from her didn't?" She recognized this pained voice as belonging to her assailant, trying to vindicate himself.

"About the only thing you've done right," Said another, "you were supposed to bring her down here before making a move."

"She was starting to suspect!" Her assailant argued.

"More like you couldn't wait to grab a hold of her tits." Scoffed another.

"Enough!" Judging by the tone, this one was the leader. "He got the job done didn't he? And we have our prize now don't we?" A hand - presumably the leaders - smacked her across the rump, causing her to cry out though the gag muffled her cries. He then addressed her assailant, "Moving on her before we were in position was a gutsy move, how's the leg?"

"Hurts like a bitch." Her assailant complained.

Kirche was hardly sympathetic, _'Good!'_ She thought, _'A pity I didn't get you somewhere more vital.'_

"That's too bad." The leader said sorrowfully, Kirche could imagine the sly grin spreading across his face. "Because, you've just volunteered for watch duty for the next few weeks... without rotation." Turns out that neither were her abductors.

"But boss!" Her assailant objected.

"But nothing," The leader cut him off, "You jumped ahead of the line and took your turn early, not my fault if she proved to be more you can handle and cut you private time short. You could've taken your time back at the hideout, but we're not. Regardless you're at the back of the line now; though I'm sure the guys will ease your suffering and tell you how much fun they had with her." The sound of mocking laughter filtered through the blanket. Then one of the men - she wasn't sure who - picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and they carried her off to their hideout.

* * *

"Will that be all Miss?" The shopkeeper asked.

Tabitha nodded and paid for the books she had chosen. The shopkeeper then placed each book into a leather satchel for her to carry them in. Taking the bag she made her way to the front door opening it she stood in the doorway, paused a moment then waved her staff ever so slightly and murmured a spell so as not to alarm the store keeper. The spell enhanced her hearing, allowing her to focus on the sounds coming from the street.

Normally she'd have no reason to do so; however her reason for being here as well as the nature of Louise's mission prompted caution. While it was unlikely that any of them would be a target other than Louise and the Knight, those that intended to stop them were also keen to learn what they knew and association alone was all it took to get dragged into other people's unpleasant business, henceforth her caution.

The street outside was usually quiet, while it hadn't exactly been busy when she had first come here, there had been at least some foot traffic, people coming and going. But now it was deafly quiet, the street all but deserted. Straining her ears, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at sound of strings being pulled taunt.

Most mages would've thought nothing of it, however mage knights especially those with combat experience learned to be wary of the sound of bows being drawn. The bow was an old nemesis of magic on the battlefield, competitive in regards to both range and lethality. Thought they weren't very powerful, the rate of fire of a trained archer and their sheer number of projectiles fired when deployed in groups made them a menace against mages, especially when they staggered their fire leaving little time to caste for all but the most skilled mage knights. Even a Triangle mage like her would have trouble against this many; either way going out the front was no longer an option.

Quietly closing the door, she quickly made her way back to the store keeper, it wouldn't be long before they grew impatient and stormed in after her.

"Is everything alright Miss?" He asked.

"Rear exit?" She inquired. He was briefly surprised before his expression turned serious; clearly this wasn't the first time someone had asked to use the back door. He led her to the back and showed her out, a quick scan of the back alley showed nobody around; even so she stayed under the overhanging eave as a precaution while she whispered a simple illusion spell to hide her presence.

The illusion wasn't foolproof; she could improve it by adding a second element but that taxed her willpower reserves. Therefore slowly and deliberately she sought out the perimeter so she could slip past her pursuers.

Because all the buildings were carved out of stone, their roofs were flat and accessible from within the buildings themselves and could easily support the combined weight of several people standing on it. There were also narrow wooden bridges that spanned between buildings that could allow for one way travel.

This was where her ambushers lay in wait for her to exit the bookstore, wandering unseen beneath one such building she heard a few of them talking and paused to listen.

"Remind me again as to why we got stuck with chasing this runt of a girl, while the others got the busty wench?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to subdue a mage without magic? One wrong move and the bitch will roast you alive and because of the fact she has a large pair of tits they're crazy enough to try and take the wench alive, I wouldn't expect many of them to come back.

"That's why we're not taking any chances with tiny tits down there, by laying in wait up here. Now keep your eyes peeled for the girl, I don't fancy being cut to ribbons by wind magic."

The pair became silent from then on. Tabitha wasn't insulted in the slightest by remarks about her chest - or lack thereof - she'd seen the attention it got Kirche and preferred to have none of that, most of her opponents underestimated her for being a runt, therefore their cautious and methodical approach to taking her down was in its own way kind of flattering.

Right now though she had greater concerns as they had been referring to another group and its target, as she looked towards the marketplace eyes narrowed in concern. From what she'd overheard Kirche was also being pursued and had there being any sign of smoke Tabitha would've known that her friend was aware of the danger and was fighting back, however the skies were clear and there was no sign of disturbance.

That meant one of two things, either; Kirche caught on to her pursuers and gave them the slip without a fight or; they had gotten the drop on her.

The former was unlikely, being a Triangle mage from a prominent military family she'd rather confront them than turn her back and flee. That left the latter and if the conversation she overheard was any indication, Kirche was in for a nasty reception and she needed to find her friend quickly which put her in a dilemma.

The fastest way to find Kirche was to take the most direct route to the marketplace via the rooftops and track her position from there; however this would reveal Tabitha's position to her pursuers who would no doubt give chase. The other option was to take an indirect route through the back alleys which would conceal her movements, but by the time she found Kirche - if she found her at all - it would be too late.

Having no real choice in the matter, she dispelled her illusion and used the 'Fly' spell to leap onto the nearby roof. Behind her there was a cry of alarm as the pair she'd been eavesdropping on alerted their comrades on the nearby rooftops, without so much as backward glance she accelerated across the flat roof, bobbing and weaving to avoid any arrows fired her way.

She didn't take to the air due to the drain it have on her willpower, instead using a bit of magic and some muscle she ran across the rooftops at speed. She could hear the sound of her pursuer boots on wood as they crossed the narrow bridges that connected the buildings as they pursued her along with the occasional twang of a bowstring and the skip of arrows across stone. Tabitha ignored them as she pulled ahead using her speed and a bit of magic to leap the gaps between buildings, forcing her pursuers to take the long way around as she made a beeline for the marketplace.

When she reached it she glanced over shoulder to see that her pursuers were still some distance behind her, she had time for a quick search before they caught up. Looking over the crowd for Kriche's vibrant red hair, however she wasn't anywhere to be found, instead she spotted a familiar mop of blond hair that was Guiche entering one of the alleyways.

By the time she reached the roof overlooking the alley, Guiche was already heading down one of the intersections. Before she could follow, something on the ground caught her eye. Leaping down from roof she examined the object, it was a button, practically identical to ones on her school blouse.

As far as she was aware, aside from herself, Louise and Kirche were only ones from the academy present in La Rochelle and since Louise was still at the Hotel that meant...

Had Guiche stumbled upon Kirche's trail? She couldn't be sure, what she was certain of was Guiche's ability to track down a pretty girl, she just had to hope that the one they found was Kirche... and soon.

* * *

After weaving through the back alleys the mercenaries soon reached their hideout, once inside they removed the sack covering Kirche and unbound her. They laughed at her apparent skittishness when she dashed towards the back of the room, putting some distance between her and them the moment she was unbound. She made no attempt to maintain her modesty; if she was going to fight she needed both her hands free. Seeing this, they openly leered at her exposed chest.

 _'That's fine,'_ She thought, _'the more time they waste staring at my boobs, is more time for me to think of a way out of this mess.'_

To some people, unbinding her would seem counter-intuitive, on the other hand though most people knew that a mage without their wand posed little threat and that most commoners had a physical advantage over mages. With her assailants standing between her and the door she had little chance of escaping.

"Who are you people?!" She demanded, "And what's the meaning of this? What do you want?" All three were good questions, if they had intended to kill her they had plenty of time to do so, but they hadn't and she was almost afraid that she'd already knew the answer.

"Who are we? Ain't it obvious... we're mercenaries, specificity mage trappers." From his voice she recognized the man at the front of the group as the leader.

Kirche had heard of mercenaries such as these; they were rather common in Gallia where assassinations, kidnappings and other power struggles were equally common. They were non-mages, commoner soldiers who specialized in subduing mages without killing them, it was a hazardous profession as even a Dot mage with no military training such as Guiche for example could still be a threat if provoked, and as such the attrition rate was abysmally high.

Looking from one to another, she saw that each of them bore scars one form of magic or another; burns from fire magic, lacerations form wind and various disfigurements from water and earth spells. Each of them survivors of their first catch... and learned from it, no wonder they sent the spotless rookie to lure her in, had any of these men approached her she would've been instantly on guard.

"We've been paid a tidy sum to get you out of way," the leader informed her, "as for what we want, well, you're tonight's entertainment."

That was the answer she was afraid of, but there were too many of them between her and door, she was trapped. Clenching her hands into fists she entertained the idea of whether it would be worth slugging him right here and now, pity the odds were against her.

The leader strode up to her with all the confidence of someone completely in control and demonstrated this by unclasping the pentagram brooch that held her cloak in place, letting it fall to the ground behind her.

As much as she dreaded what was to come and how she despised the man in front her, she made no move to strike him, the fact that he was making a show of it in front of the others bought her precious extra seconds as he paused to show off. As her father once said when he reminisced about his soldiering days, 'in battle the trick is not to be too hasty, but not wait too long, you have to time it at just the right moment. Timing, that's the hardest part of the battle.' Next he fondled her chest before slipping her blouse off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.

When her skirt slid down to her ankles, Kirche knew that time had run out, hands balled up into fists she glared at the leader. From his expression she could see that he had also come to the same conclusion as her and invited her last ditch resistance with a smug grin. Despite knowing she would undoubtedly lose, Kirche was determined to at least break his nose or perhaps knock out a few more teeth.

Just as she was about to take a swing at him, there was commotion outside followed by the sound of wood splintering as the door was knocked off its hinges. Lying in the wreckage was her assailant from the alley whom - true to the leader's word - had been on watch duty, and standing in the doorway much to Kirche's disbelief flanked by Bronze Valkyries was Guiche de Gramont.

"Unhand thy maiden, curs!" Guiche declared rose wand posed to caste, "Or you shall..." Guiche's voice trailed off as he caught sight of Kirche who at this point was wearing very little.

Whatever relief she'd felt at his arrival quickly deflated as the more levelheaded mercs took advantage of his distraction to destroy his Valkyries, one of them clubbed him over the back of the head, knocking him out; his rose wand fell a few feet from where Kirche was standing.

Thinking, _'It's now or never!'_ Kirche slugged the leader - who had been briefly distracted by Guiche's entrance - the sensation of his nose buckling under the impact of her fist give her immense satisfaction, before diving for the rose wand, all the while praying that her feet didn't get entangled in her skirt, otherwise her escape would be rather brief.

When she got a hold of it, someone behind her grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked causing her to cry out. Gripping the wand tightly, she squeezed her eyes shut and chanted a quick spell. There was a flash of light, bright enough that she saw the insides of her eyelids followed by a deafening bang. When she recovered she looked over her shoulder to see the leader still grasping her hair while covering his eyes, aiming over her shoulder she sent a lick of flame into him forcing him to finally let go.

She quickly got to her feet and bolted out the door and down the street, thankful that she was still wearing her boots, in spite of losing most of her clothes she didn't want to think how far she'd make it barefoot down these alleys.

Kirche squashed any concerns about Guiche, reasoning that being the primary focus of these mercs and that he should be relatively safe provided she led them away. She didn't know if they chasing her as her hearing hadn't recovered yet and she didn't dare stop to look.

Turning down one alley she ground to a halt unable to believe her rotten luck; a dead end. By this point Kirche's hearing had recovered enough to make out the sound of many boots thundering behind her, she prepped a 'levitation' spell to take her to the rooftops. However the twang of bowstrings forced her to change to a 'Wind barrier' spell as a volley of arrows rained down on her.

As she prepared to counterattack, the mercs let fly another volley forcing her back on the defense. She knew what they were doing, by having each row firing one after another continuously not only did it deny her a opening to counterattack but at same time it allowed them to wear her down from a safe distance.

She couldn't disregard any of the volleys as they were being fired with deadly accuracy, only when the strain of willpower depletion was visibly evident would they shift their aim to ensure she was still alive... when they reached her.

However in spite of the fact that she specialized in fire magic, Louise's mishaps ensured that Kirche could quickly erect a durable 'Wind Barrier' in a heartbeat and being a Triangle mage to boot meant it would take the mercs all day to wear her down. Judging by the size and number of quivers they had brought they were prepared to do just that.

Suddenly numerous icicles rained down upon the ranks of bowmen, the mercs cried out as many found themselves impaled even as they frantically searched for the source. It wasn't long before they all lay dead in the alley.

That's when a small figure with blue hair jumped down form a nearby rooftop.

"Tabitha?" Kirche asked, half relieved, half dumbfounded. The petite girl turned to friend in time to be smothered.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 9**

* * *

 **AN: Honestly, Being my first fic I'm kind of nervous how you guys would respond to this chapter. If you guys feel that the rating needs to upped to 'M' let me know, even I'm wondering how far I'm straddling that line. Next chapter may be posted later than usual.  
**


	10. Rematch

**\- Rematch -**

* * *

Guiche's head throbbed painfully in tune with each step he took.

The last thing he could recall was tailing a suspicious group of men after he had stumbled upon Kirche's wand abandoned in an alley behind the marketplace.

It was no coincidence that he had appeared there of all places. After having his advances repeatedly rejected by numerous waitresses who weren't nearly as frivolous as his source had implied, he had departed the tavern in search of Kirche only to be set upon by a large number of ruffians.

It took little effort for his seven Bronze Valkyries to repel the mob, as such Guiche continued on his merry way towards the markets. He scoured the stalls for the busty redhead whom had pretty much dragged him to La Rochelle, and managed to catch sight of her entering an alley with someone who appeared to be a merchant, followed by a small group of armed men which he presumed to be a guard detail of some sort.

By the time he reached the alley, there was no sign of either the guards, or Kirche and her companion. What he did find was her wand and a scattering of buttons, he wondered if something had happened. That's when the sound of voices further down the alley drew his attention, curious he moved to investigate.

Following the voices, it took him some time to catch up as they had a significant lead, when he finally caught up; he peered around the corner and saw.

A large group of armed men, some of them he recognized barely as the guards that had followed Kirche into the alley, and there... standing among them was the merchant, but no sign of Kirche. Then he noticed that one of their number was carrying a large sack over his shoulder and sticking out of the end was a pair of boots - recognizably Kirche's.

 _'The fiends,'_ Guiche thought, _'they've abducted Kirche.'_ He could scarcely believe it, Kirche was one of the most gifted students at the academy, having already reached the rank of Triangle while the majority of her peers remained Dot mages and yet somehow she had been outwitted.

As a nobleman bearing witness to such a nefarious deed, he had to act. A fair maiden – whether Kirche qualified as such was debatable – was in distress and on his honor as a Gramont he could not allow any misconduct to befall her person, but first things first, he needed a plan.

Following the typical Earth mage mentality, the plan he came up with was both bold and direct, drawing inspiration from his father's numerous war stories, he recalled him saying. _'When assaulting an enemy position, one must employ shock and awe.'_ Guiche liked this simple two step plan, one step more complex than a reckless charge. Now to begin phase one.

Peeking around the corner once again he saw that they had posted a single sentry outside to guard the door. The merchant, 'how dastardly inconspicuous,' Nevertheless Guiche prepared himself mentally for battle, raised his prized rose wand and readied his spell.

Leaping out into the alley, Guiche thrust his wand towards his target as he ran a bronze Valkyrie materialized before him. The guard seeing him briefly shouted an alarm before the Valkyrie's fist connected with his chest knocking him into and through the door.

Guiche felt ecstatic at the overwhelming success of the first phase of his plan; Shock. Now all he had to do was follow up with phase two; Awe.

Following his first Valkyrie, Guiche burst through the doorway while conjuring a second. Standing between them his two Valkyries flanking him on either side, he thrust his wand toward whom he presumed to be the leader and issued his ultimatum.

"Unhand thy maiden, curs," He said, it was a bit more grandiose than necessary, but he digressed. "Or you shall..." That was when he was Kirche standing behind the leader, wearing virtually nothing; suffice to say he was stunned by the image before him. Guiche was distantly aware of the swift destruction of his two Valkyries before something clocked him over the head.

* * *

Guiche woke up a short while later to an empty room, well empty except for the guard dressed as a merchant whom he had overpowered earlier; he was still unconscious.

Shouts in the distance clued him as to the whereabouts of the others, looking around for his wand it was nowhere to be seen; fortunately he still had Kirche's which was better than nothing. Just as he was about to follow he spotted something towards the back of the room. _'Oh, I better grab those,'_ he thought. _'She'll need these later... hopefully.'_

By the time he caught up to them, the battle was over, the ruffians lay dead across the entire width of the street, impaled by numerous icicles and there at the other end being enveloped by Kirche's generous bosom was Tabitha, Kirche's savior. Guiche looked on in envy at the pair what he'd give to trade places with Tabitha.

At this point Tabitha apparently needed to breath and unfortunately for Kirche, Tabitha's short stature meant that Kirche's rear was within easy reach. She pinched her.

"Yeowouch! Tabitha!" Kirche whined, "That hurt."

Tabitha however was unrepentant, much to Kirche's evident dismay as she rubbed her sore behind. She then noticed Guiche at the end of street trudging towards them. "Guiche you're still alive?"

"Try not to sound so disappointed." He griped, seriously this attitude of hers was getting old. "I may have bungled the rescue, but at least I provided an exit, a simple 'thank you' would suffice, here."

With that said he thrust a bundle of cloth into her arms, she quickly realized that said bundle were in fact her clothes. Quickly she changed into them, not even bothering to look for a place to change after all anyone who'd been in the street before would've already seen her naked dash so there was no point.

The first issue she had to deal with was her blouse; the majority of the buttons had been torn off during the initial struggle, only the top three near the collar – the ones she never used – were intact, she did them up anyway. However no manner of arrangements of tucking her blouse into her skirt would permit her to completely cover her torso, so she had to make do with having her navel and the lower portion of her cleavage exposed for all to see – it was a new experience for her – Guiche most certainly approved of the new look.

"Speaking of which, how did you escape anyway?" He asked curiously, "For a practitioner of fire magic the room was nearly spotless."Kirche grimaced.

"I had to use wind magic." She lied.

"Really?" Guiche was genuinely surprised, Tabitha however eyed her suspiciously.

"If I had used fire magic within that confined space, I would've set you on fire along with the rest of them." She reasoned. She refused to admit that the spell she used was inspired by Vallière's mishaps. Guiche accepted her explanation; Tabitha however remained skeptical but said nothing to contradict her.

Guiche gave her wand back in exchange for his explaining that he found it in the alley. Kirche was quick to accept, the rose wand didn't suit her anyway. In the back of Guiche's mind though the idea of his rose wand been nestled between magnificent peaks made for a tantalizing image, seeing his expression she could guess what he was thinking.

"Get your head out of the gutter Guiche, now is not the time," She chided him, causing him to deflate. "And Guiche. Thank you." Guiche's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the warmest and most heartfelt smile of which he hadn't seen from her since his attempted rescue from Louise's golem familiar. At that moment she looked radiant and his heart began to skip.

Suddenly there came a shout from the rooftops, "I saw her go this way!" And just like that the magic of the moment was gone.

"For me." Tabitha blandly informed them.

Kirche looked to her surprise. "You too, Tabitha?" She nodded, Kirche continued, "no matter, run! Head for the hotel."

The trio ran for their lives using the back alleys as cover, though eventually they were forced back onto the main road, where they ran into another group causing both parties to pause briefly.

"Oh, it's my lot." Guiche pointed out recognizing them; apparently the feeling was mutual as one of the men in the lead pointed to Guiche.

"It's that blonde bastard, get him!" The group charged, weapons raised and the trio resumed running.

"Why go after you of all people?" Kirche wondered as they ran.

"Why are you so surprised?!" Guiche demanded indignantly.

"Well... we all know why they came after me, obviously... and I can guess why they went after Tabitha..." Which she had no intention of explaining, she continued, "you however-"

"Insignificant." Tabitha interjected.

"-It's a wonder they even bothered. Heck it's a mystery you made it this far without a scratch." Kirche finished.

"I'll have you know that they're not that tough, I beat all of 'em easy." He recalled, mostly due to luck on his part and general incompetence on the enemy's.

"Then why are running?" Kirche muttered under her breath.

When the mercenaries were briefed on their targets by the thief, there was little to know about Guiche other than he was a low ranking earth mage with no considerable skill or experience. As such those mercenaries whom were new to their career and lacked combat experience against mages considered him to be an easy mark and had left the remaining two Triangle mages to the more experienced veterans among their number.

Their first error was they weren't aware of that Earth mages were good for more than shoring up and tearing down fortifications. Powerful mages like Fouquet could summon a small army of golems making mages like her literal one wo/man armies and in Guiche's case a one boy squad.

Their second error was the battleground they chose; ideally they should have engaged him in a wide open area and attack from all sides, capitalizing on their sheer weight of numbers to overwhelm his meager defenses. Instead they attacked him in the street, right out in front of the tavern he had just departed from, the narrow confines of the street negated their numbers as it, while allowing Guiche's squad of seven Valkyries to efficiently repel the mob with ease, bows could of offset the mercs disadvantage had any of them thought to bring any.

Back in the present the trio saw their destination. "Straight ahead! There's the hotel!"

* * *

In the dining hall of the 'Goddesses' Temple hotel,' Louise and Wardes were having lunch. For Louise the day had started out perfect, she had nice sleep, a nice breakfast, Kirche and the others had being out of her hair all morning – which was admittedly of some cause for concern considering what they knew – other than that nothing could go wrong today. Then she looked out the window...

And saw Kirche and the others running from a large mob of armed men. Following her gaze Wardes said. "It appears the enemy his found us, quickly Louise, let's go. We'll leave through the back."

"But the others!?-" Louise argued.

"Have led them to us!" Wardes cut her off before gently adding, "My dear, we must hurry. We don't have much time."

Reluctantly she followed him towards the back. "What about your griffin?" She asked.

"Already stowed aboard the 'Marie Galante.'" He answered. Using the 'fly' spell he carried Louise over the back wall, as they made their way to the port he continued, "If we hurry we can depart before they can catch up to us."

* * *

As the trio ran through the gate and into the courtyard Kirche called out to Guiche.

"Block off the entrance!" She told him.

Turning on his heel Guiche conjured a row of four Valkyries who stood aligned across the gateway entrance, their spears arrayed before them. Kirche had to praise his cleverness – or perhaps his luck was in play once again. A wall of earth would have been more effective, but that would've resulted in the enemy scaling the walls and there was too much wall for the three of them to defend and while the hotel had originally been a battle castle before its conversion it lacked the one thing all other forts had; a garrison to the defend it.

By lining the gateway with small golems instead, Guiche had created an obvious weak point. So naturally the enemy would concentrate their assault there and when they inevitably broke through, they would all funnel through that one opening.

This gave Kirche an idea."Tabitha, remember when we fought the undines at the lake?"

When she nodded, Kirche turned to Guiche, "Guiche, hold the gate as all as you can."

"What!?"

"Just do it!" With that settled Kirche crossed her wand with Tabitha's staff and the pair began to chant in unison.

By this point the two groups of pursuers had merged into one, as such Guiche's lot of amateurs now under the supervision of Tabitha's veterans, became a more effective fighting force forming a phalanx in preparation to assault the lightly guarded gate, while archers formed up behind them and fired volleys of arrows over the wall into the courtyard.

When the first volley came over the walls, Guiche conjured three more Valkyries, the three of them holding a single giant bronze great-shield, hefting it in front of the trio to shield them. Arrows skipped off it and others lodged within it, their chisel shaped steel arrowheads piercing it. _'Someone remembered to bring their armor piercing arrows,'_ Guiche noted.

Back at the front gate the mercenary phalanx collided with the Valkyries' defensive line. Those with halberds used their hooks – normally for unseating horsemen – to snag them and pull them out of formation, then pined to the ground before being set upon by those armed with maces, war hammers - and other weapons designed to defeat armor – pounded them into scrape. As this happened the rest poured through the gate and spread out into the courtyard beyond.

"Umm... Girls, anytime now would be great." Guiche pleaded as more arrows glanced off the shield with increasing frequency.

The pair stopped chanting, Kirche looked to him and said, "Raise the shield."

He nodded and gave the command. The shield held at an angle to catch arrows falling overhead was tilted back further, revealing the army of mercs in front of them. Both Kirche and Tabitha directed their crossed wands through the gap between the Valkyries.

""Firestorm!"" They called out in unison.

 _Whoosh!_ A spiraling flame, like dragon's breath leaped from the gap between the two wands and into front ranks of mercenaries, before following them out as they retreated through the gateway and engulfing the rows of archers beyond.

The battle was decided in an instant. Most of those that had yet to pass through the gate managed to flee in time, while those at the forefront weren't nearly so lucky.

* * *

After climbing a long flight of stair, Louise and Wardes arrived at the top of a small hill. The pair had made good time after fleeing from the hotel, now the mountain sized tree port loomed before them, branching out in all directions, as numerous airships gathered around each branch. This was the tree port of La Rochelle, the single largest port on the continent, not one of Albion's ports who supported its immense air navy could boast anything like it.

The pair ran to the tree's base and made their way up the tree's roots into the hollowed out center. Each flight of stairs was connected to another, there was scaffolding and supports on them but they still looked worryingly dangerous. Between each flight were metal panels indicating the destination of the ships on that particular branch.

When they found one for departures to Albion they ran out along the wooden pathway craved into the enormous branch, only to find their path blocked whey they were confronted by a dark figure wearing a mask.

Wardes drew his rapier wand. His opponent mimicked the motion drawing a black cane from within his cloak. Wardes struck first unleashing an 'Air Hammer' spell that fired invisible blocks of compressed air. His adversary deftly sidestepped the spell with surprising ease before thrusting his can towards Wardes, its length surrounded by a whirlpool of air generated by an 'Air Needle' spell.

Wardes narrowly avoided the thrust. However rather than turn and reengage him, his opponent dashed past him straight toward Louise. Forgetting the sword fastened to her back, Louise stood frozen with fear, her eyes locked onto the tip of the cane and the whirlpool of air spiraling around it, as it grew larger with each second her attacker closed the distance.

 _"I don't think so!"_ One of Nemo's blonde-knives burst out of the ground in front of Louise and impaled her attacker, knocking him off his feet and into the air. Half a second later the masked man's form dissipated into nothing, not a trace of him remained. Nemo recalled her slash-harkens which vanished back into the woodwork, while Louise continued to stare at the space where attacker had once being mere seconds ago.

"How?" Her voiced croaked, dry from fear.

"Ubiquitous Wind." Wardes explained, "A body of air, shaped in the image of its caster."

"But it used magic." Louise said, still in a state of shock.

"Yes." Wardes continued, "But is restricted to only wind magic. It can't utilize the other element; even so it's a troublesome spell regardless." Wardes scanned the area around them warily. "The 'Ubiquitous Wind' can appear anywhere within the caster's line of sight. We must hurry before the enemy sends another." He urged her, the pair continued on their path to the ship waiting for them.

* * *

Back at 'The Goddesses Temple' hotel, Guiche could only stare at the devastation before him.

"That was amazing!" He said and he wasn't exaggerating, the spell unleashed by both Kirche and Tabitha rivaled that of a Square mage in sheer power. Guiche couldn't fathom how they had pulled it off.

At this point the three remaining Valkyries were dispelled along with their shield. The three mages were exhausted, though Guiche wasn't affected as badly as the other two, being a dot mage he didn't have much power to drive his spells but by that same token it didn't take much to recover, a few minutes rest and would be ready to cast again.

However bad he felt, the girls being Triangle mages felt it fourfold after having drained two thirds of their willpower each. Tabitha leaning on her staff appeared especially debilitated with shadows under her eyes from casting spells all day, Kirche affected less so simply slouched where she stood.

Suddenly there was a rumble and a giant shadow was caste over them. Looking up they saw peering over the castle walls, a giant earth golem than a familiar figure stepped out onto its shoulder.

"Oh no," Kirche groaned. "Not you again."

"Oh yes, me _again."_ Fouquet mocked, "And I must say you've rather disappointed me."

"And how did I manage that feat?" Kirche asked hoping to distract her small talk.

"The state of your blouse says it all." Fouquet pointed out, causing Kirche to glance down at her exposed navel. "Letting those thugs get the better of you. For shame, just because you have magic doesn't make you invincible you know. A woman should take better care."

Kirche could feel Tabitha's pointed stare boring into the back of her skull, silently chastising her. Fouquet continued, "Though you did impress me a little with that combination spell."

The girls' eyes widened in surprised, Guiche looked back and forth between them in confusion as to what they were talking about. "Oh yes. I know about that secret magical art. Coveted by the church and jealously guarded by the royal families. One would wonder where you two learned it, however..." Fouquet's eyes narrowed at Tabitha.

"Blue hair," She observed. "A rare hair color, even amongst mages, the number of bloodlines that can boost it can be counted on one hand. Among them is the prestigious Gallian royal family."

Guiche stared dumbfounded at Tabitha even as her expression shifted ever so slightly to something resembling a scowl.

 _'Crap! She knows.'_ Kirche realized.

"It seems that I've underestimated you, not once but twice!" Fouquet's golem raised its fist into the air. "Let's see if we can avoid a third." The golem's fists turned into hammers and a wave of her wand 'Transmuted' them into steel. The golem took a step forward.

"Umm... guys," Guiche's voice trembled. "Now would be good time for another big spell."

"Sorry Guiche." Kirche apologized in a tired voice, "even if I wanted to, Tabitha's barely standing." He saw that she was indeed leaning heavily against her staff for support.

The golem took another step. Being the only Earth mage in the group, Guiche racked his brain for a solution. They couldn't hide in the hotel, even if it was a castle, large golems like Fouquet's existed to knock 'em down and while his Valkyries were numerous they lacked the sheer mass needed to go toe-to-toe with that monster. Surely there was a simple spell that could bring the golem down, maybe even a combination of spells-

"I've got it!" Guiche announced.

"Don't keep us in suspense Guiche." Kirche said impatiently.

"Remember back when you had that fight with Louise?"

"Must you remind me?"

Guiche rephrased his question, "Remember how we beat her golem familiar?"

Kirche paused to think it owner. "Guiche! That's brilliant." She then looked up at the golem approaching them in concern before continuing, "That thing is quite a ways bigger than Vallière's. Do you think you could cover the whole thing?"

He nodded vigorously.

"Tabitha?" She asked. The girl nodded as well, she should be able to muster a light breeze easily enough.

Fouquet's golem surged through the outer wall and into the courtyard, sending fragments of stones flying everywhere smashing empty barrels and glass bottles. Kirche erected a 'Wind Barrier' to shield them from the debris.

"Guiche, you better get started." Kirche told him.

Nodding, Guiche began mass producing rose petals from his wand which were then carried away by Tabitha's breeze towards the golem where they adhered to its surface.

"What on earth do those brats think they're doing?" Fouquet wondered out loud.

When the petals covered the entire surface of her golem, they then dissolved into oil. "This is... Alchemy!?" She realized, suddenly there was a flash out of the corner of her eye and she looked up in time to see a fireball leap out from Kirche's wand. "Oh shit."

Fouquet's golem lit up like funeral pyre and shortly after collapsed in a flaming heap.

* * *

As Louise and Wardes boarded the 'Marie Galante,' three figures wearing cloaks and masks watched the ship depart before diverting their attention to the city below.

The plan to separate the girl from her familiar had likely failed, however they still succeeded at removing the three interlopers from play. Even if they survived and flew to Albion on their Wind Dragon, by the time they arrived it would be too late. No one could stop what was about to happen next.

* * *

The exhausted trio watched the hill sized bonfire for a time as they recuperated.

"Not bad Guiche." Kirche said, "That's twice you've saved me, I could kiss you-"

Guiche perked up at her praise... and possible reward.

"-But I'm too tired right now."

And deflated just as quickly. _'Perhaps later,_ ' he hoped.

"Well," he said dejected. "At least this ordeal is finally over."

He spoke too soon.

"Not quite I'm afraid." Out of the ground in front of the burning remains of her golem rose Fouquet, her hair singed and her cloak in tatters. "That's three times I've underestimated you."

"Argh! Don't you ever give up?!" Kirche complained, "Maybe you should quit while you're ahead."

"Hold on-" Guiche said but they ignored him intent on their argument.

"Normally I'd be happy to call it a day, unfortunately my current employer has little tolerance for failure, and he's not the type that I can slip away from easily."

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!"They continued to ignore him.

"Quite the pickle you've got yourself in."

"Tell me about it."

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Guiche yelled, everyone turned to see what his problem was. Guiche pointed a finger at Fouquet, "the Headmaster's secretary? Why is she attacking us?!" He demanded.

"Oh right." I forgot you weren't there the first time around." Kirche realized.

"Funny, I would've thought that everyone at the academy would be aware of my identity by now." Fouquet commented.

"Anyway the short story is that she's really the infamous thief Fouquet the Crumbling Earth and she's here to take revenge on me and Tabitha for our part in throwing her in jail."

Guiche looked to Tabitha for confirmation. She nodded; he looked to Fouquet who also nodded. After a moment's pause he said, "Can you repeat-!" He was rudely interrupted by Tabitha, who whacked him on the head with her staff, reminding him of the headache he had acquired earlier, which thanks to Tabitha had returned with renewed vigor.

"Now. Where were we?" Kirche asked.

"I was about to kick your ass." Fouquet informed her collapsing her telescoping wand before returning it to its holster on her belt.

"That's big talk coming from you, old hag." Kirche retorted tucking her wand into the waistband of her skirt. The pair stalked towards each other until they were face-to-face.

"I'm twenty three! You top heavy tart!" Fouquet shrieked, punching Kirche who returned the gesture in kind.

As the two women brawled, Tabitha sat down on the steps and began reading one of her new books, Guiche held his head in agony. Overhead the 'Marie Galante' departed for Albion with Louise and Wardes on-board.

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 10 -**


	11. The Prince's Request

**\- The Prince's Request -**

* * *

It took three hours to reach the flying continent of Albion known as the white country, a nickname derived by the white fog covering the underbelly of the island.

Reaching Albion hadn't been easy. When the 'Marie Galante' was forced to depart early, it didn't have a full store of Wind Stones needed to reach it, fortunately Wardes being a Square class wind mage was able to carry the ship the rest of way using the 'fly' spell.

Upon arriving safely at the port and with the ship secure, the pair departed on Wardes' griffin with Louise directing them to Wales' last known location.

Despite their rather conspicuous attire they managed to reach their destination without incident. Wardes' griffin soon landed outside the doors of a somewhat remote monastery.

Louise wasn't all that surprised that the Crown Prince sought sanctuary here. Like Henrietta, he too could trace his bloodline to Birmir whom was revered by the church as both its saint and founder, not to mention the first user of the holy element; Void. Therefore the church often went to great efforts to protect and support the royal bloodlines and its offshoots.

"Is this the place?" Wardes asked as they dismounted.

She nodded. "At least he should be close by."

She had followed the Princess' directions to this location, but there was no guarantee that the Prince hadn't moved on already. They entered the monastery's chapter house, only to find it abandoned. "It's empty." Louise said disappointed, maybe there's was some clue as to where they went next.

"Not quite." Wardes warned.

Louise's geass flared to life and to either side of the room, a wall comprised of magical runes blazed. _'An illusion spell,'_ she realized. _'Triangle class at least, only someone like Wardes would've noticed anything wrong.'_

The illusion suddenly dissipated and mage knights dressed in the regalia of Albion's royalists lined the walls to either sided, their sword-wands drawn and leveled at the pair. At the back of the room more knights appeared, the leader denoted by his purple mantle stepped forward brandishing his sword-wand.

"Intruders! I demand that the three of you identify yourselves."

For a moment the pair blinked at him in confusion. Behind them Nemo frowned having a feeling of déjà vu.

Wardes stepped forward gripping the hilt of his rapier-wand. "I am Viscount Wardes, Captain of her majesty's Griffin Knight Corps, with me is Tristain's ambassador; Lady Louise de La Vallière."

The Albion knights shifted in recognition of the titles. Wardes was well known throughout the neighboring kingdoms such as Gallia and Germania as a prodigy among Tristain's mage knights, so well known was his reputation that his very presence would give pause to even the most disciplined army.

Even the La Vallière name was well known for its loyalty to the crown of Tristain, especially in regards to her father whom in wake of defending the reigning monarch; King Philip III from the machinations of his first minister Duke Estashu.

"If you speak the truth," the knight said. "Then present the 'Ring of Water' bestowed by the Founder to his descendants whom have inherited the kingdom of water."

Louise suddenly remembered the ring that Henrietta had given her for luck. Had the princess known that she'd be required to present it in order to be granted an audience with the Crown Prince? If so, why not tell her?

 _'A clever ruse,'_ Nemo noted admirably. _'Without it no one but Louise would've being permitted an audience. A good way to expose pretenders.'_

Though uncertain she held out her hand with the ring, the knight did likewise with a near identical ring with a green gemstone embedded in it. Suddenly the space between the two lit up with a spectrum of colors leaping from one ring to the other.

"When wind and water are combined they create a rainbow..." The knight recited lowering his hand and sheathing his sword-wand, the knights also lowered their wands. He then reached up and unfastened his closed helm revealing a head of blond hair." Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Crown Prince, Wales Tudor at your service."

Louise curtsied. "It's an honor to meet you, your highness."

"An honor," Wardes reiterated as he bowed, "but before we continue there's one thing I'd like to clear up."

"Very well," Wales permitted.

"Before you said there were three of us, but I'm afraid we're only a party of two." Wardes pointed out. Glancing to either side, he saw that the other knights shared his confusion.

Perplexed Wales fixed his gaze on so-called nonexistent third member of their party. She was dressed in a strange seamless garment that covered her from the neck down and appeared to be made from a single piece of cloth. Her face was similar to Louise's such that she could almost pass for Louise's twin, only the girl's hair and skin were paler, and her eyes a darker shade of red.

The girl brought a finger to her lips, motioning for silence as Wardes following his gaze and turned to look, only to focus not on the girl but the door they came through, seemingly oblivious to the girl's presence Wardes strode towards the door, just as he was about to collide with her... he past right through as if she were an intangible apparition or illusion.

One thing became clear to him at that moment; only he was aware of her presence and no one else. He then observed Louise making eye contact with the girl.

 _'Except her...'_ He amended.

He didn't know what the girl was or her relation to Tristain's ambassador, what he did know was that attempting to expose her would likely make him appear foolish in front of his men.

"My apologies Sir Wardes, it seems that in the excitement of confronting you I miscounted. Perhaps I mistook your shadow for an enemy knight." He said in jest, he and the knights shared a good chuckle at his expense.

Wardes accepted his apology good naturedly, "Given the circumstances no one can blame you for being overly cautious."

* * *

Back at La Rochelle, Kirche lay sprawled across the covers of her bed wearing nothing more than her underwear while holding a cool damp cloth wrapped around pellets of ice - courtesy of Tabitha - to her aching forehead as she dozed.

A few hours ago she had being brawling with the thief Fouquet, the pair had being equally matched/obstinate and after exchanging blows for a time Fouquet retreated citing that she had done all that was required of her.

Afterwards Guiche helped her limp to her room followed closely by Tabitha, once there Guiche left them in search of Louise and Sir Wardes. The moment he was out the door, Kirche had stripped off her clothes and collapsed on top the bed, too hot and tired to be bothered with getting under the covers.

Her body ached all over from the pounding she had taken during her fight with Fouquet, Kirche had to give the thief credit, the woman was no slouched in a fist fight. Though she dared say her condition was no better than Kirche's. Bruises formed dark smudges on her brown skin covering mostly her torso and arms, one solitary bruise resided on her temple where Fouquet's first blow connected and Kirche fought to keep from whimpering as the stabbing, needle-like pain throbbed continuously.

By this point Tabitha had recovered enough to create a few cubes of ice which she then wrapped in a handkerchief and then gave it to Kirche as a makeshift ice-pack. Kirche didn't want to imagine what it cost Tabitha to make even that small amount of ice and gratefully took it and applied it to her head, after which Tabitha went in search of a bucket she could use to draw water from the well outside. While she could draw moisture from the air using magic, it was less taxing to freeze a preexisting body of water, even if it was a buckets worth.

In the meantime Kirche drifted off to sleep, holding the ice pack. What waited was a nightmare.

* * *

 _She was back at the hideout surrounded and at the mercy of her captures whose features were shrouded in shadow. They laughed as they tore away her clothes and pulled her to the floor where they held her down. All she could do was scream as numerous hands, too many to count reached out towards her as she tried to scream, however sound came out._

 _In the doorway behind them Fouquet stood repeating the same thing over and over again, "Magic doesn't make you invincible."_

* * *

Kirche woke with a start only to find a solitary figure shrouded in shadow standing over her, his hand stretched out towards her. Panicking Kirche hurled the nearest object at him, which happened to be the half melted ice-pack in her hand, scoring a direct hit to the intruder's forehead knocking him down and out.

Recovering from her panic it suddenly became apparent to her that the intruder was in fact known to her; with his ruffled shirt, black cape and... blond hair? Oh, it was only Guiche.

"Guiche!?" Kirche rushed over to his prone form where he had fallen to the floor, a goose egg protruding from his forehead. She lightly slapped his cheek repeatedly until she managed to rouse him, he groaned painfully.

"Good grief, don't sneak up on me like that!" She chided him, "Next time try knocking."

"I did knock, but you didn't answer," he explained, "and I heard crying through the door. I thought you were trouble, so I let myself in. Turns out you were having a nightmare."

 _'Damn, was I really making that much noise.''_ She wondered. It was no mystery how Guiche gained access to her room, physical locks posed little obstacle to most mages - though it was considered bad etiquette - and even magical locks could be defeated by powerful Earth mages skilled in 'alchemy' and 'transmutation' such as Fouquet, still...

"What are you doing here in the first place Guiche?" She asked."Aside from trying to fondle me that is."

"That...!?I was on my way up to inform you that Louise and Sir Wardes had left the hotel during the ruckus."Kirche wasn't entirely surprised, Guiche continued, "I ran into Tabitha on the way up, she gave me that bucket over there to bring to you and then went to her room."

Looking where he pointed, she saw the bucket with a number of small towels piled on top of it. Peeking under them, she confirmed that it had been filled with cubes of ice. Making this much ice must of being a bigger drain on Tabitha than expected, so the girl had given it to Guiche to deliver before proceeding to her own room for some much needed rest.

Helping him up from floor she guided him over to the bed where he sat. She then scooped up a handful of ice and wrapped them in a towel before it Guiche's lump.

"Regardless I apologize for entering without permission." He said wincing as the cold pack was pressed to his head."It's just that... after what happened earlier, I was worried about you."

Taken aback by his sudden admission, Kirche blushed. "They..."Guiche hesitated before continuing, "Didn't hurt you or anything, die they?" He asked, voice filled with concern.

Kirche looked away as the memory of her temporary capture surfaced in her mind. "No" She said, "You... interrupted them before they could really begin to hurt me. I'm fine." She put on a brave face, but it wasn't convincing. Physically she hadn't been harmed - if you discounted the bruises courtesy of Fouguet, those she could cope with easily - physiologically however she was still reeling from the helplessness she'd felt during her capture and from what would've most certainly happened if Guiche hadn't barged in when he did. But that had only started to sink in after she came down from the adrenaline rush that resulted from all the fighting.

She leaned against his shoulder.

"Kirche?" He started, concerned by the sudden shift in her demeanor, not to mention how quickly he became aware of how little she was wearing.

"I lied. I'm not fine at all." She admitted her eyes hidden beneath her hair, "Truthfully, I'm still a little rattled. So if it's not too much to ask, could you please hold me... just for little while?"

Caught off guard by vulnerable she looked, he couldn't help but cradled her against him. He'd always thought she was beautiful, but it was only as he held her close did he realize much so.

For a time he held her, lost in thought, wondering when exactly did he became so attached to the girl in his arms. Guiche couldn't fathom how much it took for her confide in a mere acquaintance such as him. During the incident with Louise's familiar, they had barely known each other aside from being classmates and by reputation. So there was no reason to confide in him, unlike with Tabitha.

Thinking back on his rescue, his performance had being abysmal. The fact that Kirche was able to escape under the circumstances in spite of his blunder, demonstrated just how capable and amazing she was under pressure, Montmorency wouldn't have fared nearly as well under the same circumstances.

With this in mind, he vowed to do better.

"Guiche. Earlier you were just trying to wake me, right?" Kirche asked, when he didn't answer right away she became suspicious, "You weren't actually trying to fondle me while I was asleep… were you?"

"Ummmm…"

* * *

After resolving their misunderstanding, Louise and Wardes followed the Prince through the covered walkways of the cloister, to the west range above the scriptorium - used for copying books near the library - where the Prince made use of one of the abbot's offices.

Seating himself behind the desk, Wales focused on the two standing before him, while trying hard to ignore the intangible third - leaning back against the far wall - that shadowed the pair everywhere, least he look the fool by staring at empty air. "Now," he started. "What business do you have with me?"

Stepping forward Louise offered him Henrietta's letter. "The princess asked that I give this to you in person." She said as he examined the royal seal on the back of the envelope, opening it he looked over the contents.

Once he had finished reading he sighed wistfully. "I see. The first minister has negotiated an alliance with their rival; Germania to defend against future incursions by Reconquista. However there is a letter in y possession that poses a security risk should it fall into enemy hands.

Very well. I'll hand over the letter, but in return you shall do something for me." Louise had a feeling déjà vu as Wales began writing a letter of his own, explaining the contents as he wrote. "As a result of the navy's defection, the enemy; Reconquista, controls the highest ground of all; the sky, and with the loss of our last stronghold at Newcastle it is impossible for the royalists to oppose them so long as those ships loiter above our heads."

When he finished writing Wales applied his seal to it before handing it to Louise alongside Henrietta's letter."Upon your return to Tristain, this letter is to be delivered to my cousin; King Joseph of Gallia. It is a request for aid, specifically from that of his navy. As things stand, his fleet is the only one on the mainland with both the strength and numbers to oppose Reconquista's stolen vessels." He explained, "If Gallia's navy could inflict significant damage, it would go a long way to helping me quell this uprising."

"I will deliver these to her majesty when I return to Tristain." Louise promised accepting both letters. "Though if I may ask; if the situation were so dire, wouldn't it be prudent to seek asylum in Tristain?"

Wales shook his head."If I were to do so Reconquista would most certainly invade Tristain with all haste, they will not gamble on me returning with an army. By remaining here I am buying my cousins time to muster their strength, though honestly I do not know how long we can last at this rate.

Before Newcastle fell, we had only being able to rally three hundred knights, of that number only a little more than a dozen remain."

"Three hundred!?" Louise gasped, "That's all that would stand with you?"

"There are royalists trapped behind enemy lines," He explained, "But their numbers are spread too thin throughout the White Country. They lack sufficient strength to hinder Reconquista's progress, if my cousin Joseph could at least draw away the majority of the fleet, I might be able rally them. Now if that is all-"

"If I may your highness," Wardes interjected. "I have a request."

Willing to hear him our Wales gestured for him to continue."Miss Vallière and I are engaged to be married soon, it would be to our honor if you would act as go between and preside over our wedding here before we depart." Wardes explained.

Louise gaped at him."Sir Wardes! Aren't we being a bit hasty imposing on the Prince like this?" She chastised him.

"Not at all, in fact I think it would be good for his men's moral if we departed on such a positive note." He pointed out, Louise found herself at a loss for words.

"It's alright, I don't mind." Wales chuckled, "and I agree that a wedding would help lift the men's spirits, I Wales Tudor would be more than happy to preside over your wedding."

"In that case we'll make the necessary preparations and meet you at the church." Wardes told before leading Louise out f the office. Louise sent Nemo a questioning look.

 _"Go on ahead,"_ she said, _"Me and the Prince need to have a private chat,"_ When the door closed behind them she remarked, _"Well aren't he pushy."_

"You disapprove?" Wales asked her.

 _"I barely know the man,"_ She answered, _"Nor does Louise for that matter."_

"He is her fiancé." He pointed out.

 _"The last time they spoke was eight years ago."_ She countered.

"Eight years...?" Wales frown, even with his duties to the Griffin Knights, Wardes should of had ample time to at least write to his fiancé. To not do so over such a lengthy period of time seemed rather neglectful. Wales shook his head, "We're getting off topic. Who and what are you?"

 _"My name is Nemo and I am Louise's familiar,"_ She introduced herself revealing the runes on the back of her hand. _"As to what I am, I'm afraid your language lacks the necessary terminology to describe me."_

"Your kind must be foreign to these lands then?"

 _"You have no idea."_ She said nonchalantly.

"You're rather outspoken, especially in the presence of royalty." He observed.

 _"I'm a familiar; I am beholden only to my master and no other. Your title has no meaning to me, nor does it have any bearing on my person."_

Interestingly Wales found her frankness to be refreshing. "How is it that you hide yourself from others?" He asked curious.

 _"Contrarily only Louise should be able to see and hear me, while everyone else is ignorant to my existence."_ She pointed out, _"There is however a sentient sword that is aware of my presence, since he lacks the usual anatomy we can only assume that whatever magic that allows to it to perceive the world is how it does so. Therefore it is you Prince, and your cousin Henrietta that are the aberrations."_

Wales was surprised by Nemo's revelation, _'Anne can see her also.'_

 _"Honestly I am curious as to why you two in particular are so special."_ Nemo wondered out loud.

"Have you met with any other members of the royal family?" He asked, Nemo shook her head. "Perhaps it's because we are descendants of the Founder Birmir whom preceded us over six thousand years ago." He offered as a way of explanation.

 _"Six thousand years,"_ Nemo scoffed. _"At this point in time I wouldn't be surprised if half the peerage was in some way related to him."_

Wales blinked in surprise as he thought over the numerous possible marriages of Birmir's descendants and found himself agreeing. "In that case I cannot think of a plausible reason as to why."

Before she departed through the door, Nemo turned back to Wales. _"Fair warning, we were attacked at La Rochelle by mercenaries lead by a mage using a spell called 'Ubiquitous Wind. I suggest you not linger here for too long after we depart."_ She warned him.

 _"Regardless, if you are satisfied by the answers I've given you then I'll be taking my leave."_ Wales nodded his consent, but before she left she asked one last question before phasing through the door as if it weren't there.

"'Ubiquitous Wind.' That's a high level wind spell. Not even I can perform it and those that can are few in number." Wales couldn't hide the concern in his voice, due to the repercussions.

 _"Don't suppose these few have names do they?"_ Nemo inquired.

"There are only two that I know of. One would be Sir Wardes as it is well within his ability, the other would be the former commander of Tristain's Manticore Knights, Karin the Heavy Wind, though he never used the spell during his career, he would've being strong enough to caste it. There may be others within Gallia and Germania that could use it but I cannot be certain." He said.

 _"What about among the rebels here in Albion?"_ Nemo asked.

Wales shook his head, "No. They have no one of that caliber among their number; if they did... the royalist wouldn't have survived for this long."

 _"So the only two we know of are from Tristain."_ She noted her tone foreboding.

* * *

A short time later, Wales and his Knights gathered in the monastery's church waiting for the bride and bridegroom to appear.

For the ceremony Wales was dressed in his formal uniform. He wore a purple cape the symbol of the royal family, and a hat with seven colored wings the symbol of Albion's royal family.

The church door opened, Louise and Wardes had arrived. As they proceeded down the aisle, the knights lining to either side of the aisle saluted as they passed between them. When they reached the altar, Louise stood with constrained expression on her face, which concerned the Prince somewhat as he urged her to stand before him.

The veil she wore was nicely made, and the flowers that were eternally fresh due to magic, made it look beautiful. Her black mantle had been exchanged for a white one. Only brides were allowed to wear one, as it was the mantle of a virgin. Both had been borrowed from the monastery, apparently they were accustomed to being visited by eloping couples who wanted to get married in a hurry. Go figure.

"Well then, let's begin the ceremony." Wales announced.

* * *

Towards the back of the church, Cromwell hid behind one of the columns, arm extended towards the girl as he enforced his will upon her through the power of the ring on his hand, its blue gemstone glowing faintly as the ceremony proceeded.

He was only able to sneak in behind Wardes due to a powerful illusion spell caste by his accomplice; Sir Wardes, of which he was thankful for as sweat dripped sown the side of his face as strained to maintain control. The 'Ring of Andavi' had the power to control the waters that gave the body life and through it he could bend others to his will, however something within the girl resisted the spell. It took all his concentration to keep the girl under control, one lapse and she'd break free of the spell.

* * *

"Do you take this man as your husband, and love him in the name of the Founder?" Wales awaited the appropriate response from the bride, but when it didn't come; Wales became concerned as Louise's constrained expression grew in intensity.

Behind Louise a purple spark flickered, drawing Wales' attention as Nemo emerged from the stone floor. _"W-wales..."_ She gasped, _"Reconquista... they're here..."_

Startled by her warning, Wales glanced at each of his knights, only to spot a shimmer near one of the columns. _'An illusion spell.'_ He realized, had he not been a Triangle mage he wouldn't have noticed. Leveling his cane at the blur he fired off a spell, startling both Wardes and his knights. "Air Hammer!"

There was a yelp from the shimmer as the block of solidified air slammed into the column showering the trespasser with pebbles and dust, dispelling the illusion revealing... "Cromwell!?"

Wales couldn't believe it, Reconquista leader Cromwell, standing in the same building as him. _'How did he get so close without being detected?'_

At the same time Louise freed from Cromwell spell, collapsed like puppet whose strings had being cut, as Nemo seemingly recovered her strength.

Nemo deployed five of her slash-harkens against Wardes intent on driving him away from both Louise and Wales, he easily deflected them with a powerful 'Wind Shield,' but was forced to leap back as the sixth emerged at his feet behind the barrier, missing him by a hair.

Cromwell managed to escape in the confusion as the knights uncertain as to whom to level their wands at; Cromwell, Wardes or the razor tips tendrils.

"So you did manage to follow us, familiar."Wardes mused. Waving his wand, four images of him appeared next to him.

Nemo snarled, _"So it was you!"_

* * *

 **\- End of chapter 11 -**

* * *

 **A/N: I know it's being a little longer since my last update, however my early lead has officially run dry. When I began uploading this story, I had already completed the first 7 chapters and had begun work the 8th. As a result updates will be a little slower, check my profile for release dates. Part 1 is almost finished and I've been debating on whether to release the events of Lagdorian Lake as a side story featuring Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche and Montmonency as the main characters. If you'd be interested in reading it, let me know in a review. If there is enough interest I'll post them prior to Part 2.  
**


	12. Betrayal

**\- Betrayal -  
**

* * *

 _"So it was you!"_ Nemo snarled.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Wales demanded his cane-wand held at the ready, the other knights leveled their sword-wands at Wardes and his four wind clones that formed a defensive circle around him.

 _"He's a defector!"_ Nemo declared, _"This mission, the wedding it's all a farce."_

* * *

Earlier; outside the West range where Wales' office was located, Louise and Wardes stood under the covered walkway of the cloister that connected all the various buildings of the monastery, including the church.

Louise looked out over the herb garden that occupied the center of the monastery as she contemplated the upcoming wedding that had come all too soon for her.

"With our mission complete, we'll be able to return to Tristain with our heads held high having done duty as to be expected of Tristainian nobility."Wardes said leaning back against a post.

What he said was true, the mission had been successful. But it still didn't sit well with her, gnawing at her all the while.

"Wardes..." She said, "I think we should reconsider this. We weren't the most inconspicuous of visitors, if we were followed... The sooner we leave the quicker the royalists can move on."

Moving away from the post, Wardes stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. "I'm sorry my dear." He apologized halfheartedly. "But I need you here. Reconquista needs you here."

"Reconquista...?" She said dumbfounded, suddenly Wardes' arms tightened around her waist and she was lifted off the ground, her legs dangling in the air. "Wardes?! What are you...?" Louise started to kick and flail, but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break his hold on her.

"Speaking of being followed, we have a guest." Wardes fixed his gaze down the walkway; following his gaze Louise saw a figure enter the walkway. It wasn't one of Wales' knights; she didn't recognize him at him at all.

"At last we meet in person, descendant of the Void." The man said. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, dressed as clergyman wearing a round hat and a green mantle. However he also resembled a soldier by the way he held himself. The man stretched out his arm towards her; there she saw the ring on his finger, its gemstone glowing faintly.

Sensing her distress Nemo passed through a nearby wall into the cloister. _"Louise!? What's wrong?"_ Seeing Louise being restrained by Wardes and a unknown man standing in front of her. Nemo tried to deploy her harkens, but before she could a wave of numbness spread throughout her body.

 _"What the...?!"_ Because she and Louise shared the same physical body, anything that affected Louise also affected Nemo as well. As such Nemo found herself paralyzed as she collapsed to ground, all she could do was glare hatefully at the two men standing by Louise.

"Lord Cromwell, are you alright?" Wardes asked as he pocketed both of Louise's letters.

Cromwell wiped away the sweat already forming on his forehead. "Yes," he said, his voice somewhat strained. "However it wasn't as easy to enthrall her as the others, even now... I can feel her resisting the spell. The power of the Void is truly something.

I'm afraid that I can't allow her to return with you to Tristain like we initially planned, as it takes all I have to keep her like this. We'll have to write off your position within the ranks of the Griffin knights and take her back with us to Londinium, though I had hoped to keep you in Tristain a little longer, it can't be helped. The army will be here shortly, let's do away with the prince before they arrive."

* * *

After Nemo informed him of her encounter in the cloister, Wales was positively furious. "To think that Tristain's greatest knight would betray his own country and stoop to being a lowly assassin. Have you no shame?!"

"Oh?" Wardes mused, "I've yet to explain myself, and yet you've already figured out that much in a matter of mere moments. I wonder how you came by that information on such short notice."

"I need not explain myself to you, cur!" Wales snubbed him. He didn't want any distractions while facing such a deadly opponent.

"A pity." Wardes said raising his black cane - the same used by this clone at La Rochelle - the familiar whirlpool of air from the 'Air Needle' spell forming around it. His clones broke their encirclement and formed a line facing Wales' knights and leisurely took turns battering them with 'Breaking Wind' spells, it was all they could do to keep standing, leaving Wales to face the real Wardes alone.

Because Louise was still recovering from Cromwell's spell, Nemo was unable to render aid to the Prince. _"Louise! You need to wake up, I can't do anything while you're like this!"_ Nemo urged her, but got no response as Wales met Wardes' spell with an 'Air Needle of his own.

The two traded blows, their spells turning their canes into pseudo rapiers. The spells clashed again and again, as Wales struggled to parry Wardes lethal strikes. Between his training as a front-line mage and the raw power that came with being a Square class, Wardes had an immense advantage as he pressured the prince.

Wales was well aware that he was outmatched and had little hope of defeating Wards one-on-one. Only with the aid of his knights would he have a chance to turn the tide of battle, however Wardes insidious spell; 'Ubiquitous Wind' kept them at bay.

Louise was starting to come to when a vicious blow against Wales caused him to lose his footing, taking full advantage of the opening, Wardes plunged his needle-sharp cane into Wales chest. Louise could only stare in horror as Wales cried out, before collapsing to the floor when Wardes withdrew his cane. Wardes then drew back his cane in preparation to deal the final blow.

With Louise now conscious Nemo acted quickly, skewering the clones with four of her harkens, while simultaneously striking at Wardes with remaining two forcing him to cancel his attack in favor of defense.

No longer hampered by Wardes' clones, Wales' knights rushed to the fallen Prince's aid, forming a wall between him and Wardes, while two of their number tended to the prince's injury.

Seeing this Wardes hurled an 'Air Spear' at their formation. Overlapping their 'Wind Shields,' they staggered under the impact but still managed to deflect the spell. Wardes readied another; however movement out of corner of his eye had him diving away as large metal fist slammed into the ground he'd been standing just moments ago.

"So you show yourself at last, familiar," Wardes said facing his attacker. It was as Fouquet had described it; a black and gray; medium sized metal golem, with six spear-tipped hair-like appendages that writhed like serpents.

The golem placed itself between him and the knights. Without taking its eyes off Wardes, it addressed the knights. "Take the prince and go," it commanded, "I'll handle him."

"The prince's injuries are too severe, we can't move him yet." The knight captain argued.

"Reconquista's army will be here any minute now. If you don't leave now, none of you ever will. Now go!" the golem left no room to argue.

The knight captain turned to the two treating the prince. "Can we move him?" He asked.

"Not easily," one said, "but if we must, then yes."The captain gave the order and Wales cried out as they lifted him to his feet. He gestured for two of the others to get the door. The remaining knights maintained their defensive line.

Wardes silently observed one eye on the golem and another on the retreating knights.

"Close the door while you're at it."The golem barked, its gaze fixed solely on Wardes, all the while keeping itself between him and the knights as they retreated to the church doors.

As they crossed the threshold, two of the knights grabbed either door and slammed them shut behind them. Wardes idly wondered if they'd bother to barricade them in.

The golem took a single step towards him.

* * *

"Well, looks like you're going to get that sparring match after all." Nemo said gazing at Wardes' image on the monitor.

"You speak with my fiancée's voice?" Wardes noted.

"She ain't your anything, anymore." Nemo retorted, "From here on out, your life is forfeit. It's just you and I locked in a stone box."

Wardes had to admit that she had a point. The Mark Nemo's sheer bulk combined with the close confines of the church left little room for Wardes to maneuver, giving Nemo an immense advantage.

The standoff lasted for but a moment until Wardes fired an 'Air Hammer' from his cane. Nemo saw it coming thanks to Geass, however speed of Wardes' casting gave her no time dodge and it impacted the Mark Nemo's torso causing it to briefly stumble, but it quickly regained its footing. Wardes however was already moving, darting to the side and around the nearest column only for his path to be blocked when several of the Mark Nemo's blonde-knives impacted the ground in front of him.

He leapt backwards to dodge the dist that followed. Fighting Nemo in the confines of the church was like playing tag in a cave with an angry troll, frankly he'd preferred the troll. He unleashed another 'Air hammer,' however Nemo once again saw it coming and was able to block it with the back Mark Nemo's forearm, while simultaneously lashing out at him with her blonde-knives.

Using magic to increase his speed, he barely managed to avoid them, before darting around towards the church doors. He turned the handle and pushed... only to find that the royalists had indeed barricaded him in and assuming that had magically reinforced it, he didn't have the neither the magic nor time to spare blowing it open.

His only way out now was the large stain glass windows at the front of the church, and standing between him and escape was Nemo. The moment Wardes turned to face her after his unsuccessful attempt at escape; Nemo knew that their short brawl had reached its climax. It was clear that Wardes had realized that whatever happened in the next minute would decide whether he lived or died, and was preparing for one final desperate attack.

As such Nemo's Geass eye remained fixed on Wardes. She quickly went over what she learned about him during their earlier exchange; in terms of raw power he was a step up from Kirche, however it was the speed of his spell casting that had caught her off guard earlier in spite of advanced warning, and not to mention his personal skill with his spells. Casting like that she'd seen only from Tabitha, the difference between them was that Tabitha's objective at the time had been to divert Nemo away from Kirche and as such had been conservative with her spells, drawing out the fight, had she sought to crush Nemo outright using all her power the battle have out differently.

Wardes charged down the center aisle towards her, Nemo could already see the spell forming around his cane as he chanted and what she saw changed the dynamic of the battle right there and then. It wasn't the raw power of the spell that worried her as he'd sacrificed power to speed up the casting, holding a little power back for whatever took place afterwards. What worried her were the unique properties of this particular spell.

It was clear that between his skill and power, combined with his willingness to utterly destroy her, Wardes was by far the most deadly opponent she'd faced up to this point and to further complicate matters, Louise despite regaining consciousness was still recovering from Cromwell's spell. This impacted on Nemo's ability to concentrate and as such her movements were more sluggish than usual.

And as such Wardes was able to barely dodge her counterattack, as all six blonde-knives one after another at the cost of his mantle which been shredded by their passing. But that mattered little now that was inside her reach.

 _'Oh shit, I'm done for!'_ Nemo realized. Derf must of sensed danger also, as he spoke for the first time since they left the academy.

"Nemo! Hurry and plunge into the saddle, it's our only chance!"

There was no time to argue as Wardes was already moving into the motion of thrusting his cane. Drawing Derf from his scabbard she plunged him tip first into the seat, what happened next was surprise for all as a large sword materialized in the Mark Nemo's right hand. Instinctively Nemo made a haphazard swing at Wardes just he unleashed his spell.

"Lightning Cloud!"

'Lightning Cloud.' An apex spell like 'Ubiquitous Wind' that can only be wielded by square class mages that could combine four elements. As its name implied it was an attack spell that fired a powerful bolt of lightning at a target, however it wasn't just the sheer power of the spell that made it so deadly in which it wasn't lacking, but rather the speed which it traveled allowing it to cross vast distances almost instantly and hit its target giving little time to avoid it.

From the other end of the church it would've being extremely unlikely that Nemo would be able to dodge it, even with the advanced warning from her Geass, the Mark Nemo was too big of a target and the spell too fast to avoid. But Wardes wasn't at the other end of the church, he was right in front of her and at point blank range he couldn't possibly miss.

When you combine the spell's electrical properties with the Mark Nemo's metallic ones, one was quick to realize that of all the spells that could be used against her, 'Lightning Cloud' was the absolute worse.

When the bolt made contact, the Mark Nemo's armor offered little resistance and when it reached the conductors that carried the electrical signals that controlled the Mark Nemo's limbs, it did what electricity did best; follow the path of least resistance, all the way up the arm, through the torso and into the cockpit where Nemo herself resided.

Nemo cried out in pain as arcs of electricity arced from the controls to fill the cockpit. After a little over a second - which to Nemo seemed to last an eternity - the electrical arcs ceased as the interior of the cockpit was plunged into darkness and the Mark Nemo collapsed to ground motionless, Nemo herself was out cold.

* * *

Wardes stood before the golem's fallen form breathing heavily even as blood pooled at his feet... his blood.

None of his informants had reported the golem using weapons of any kind other than the spear-tipped appendages or its bare fists and temporary use of the Staff of Destruction. Nowhere in any of the reports was it mentioned that it could create a sword for battle and this unforeseen fact had cost him his left arm which been severed from the elbow.

He was losing a worrying amount of blood and as such had little time to confirm that Louise's familiar was deceased. Instead he bound the wound as best as could and maneuvered around the golem moving towards the altar before blowing out the stain glass windows with a spell. He then propelled himself through them landing with a painful jolt.

Hissing in pain he immediately turned around and took aim with his cane, unleashing a fireball through the windows and into the wooden rafters of the church setting it ablaze.

Wardes watched as the blaze consumed the church for a time until he was approached by his griffin. At that point he turned away from the blaze and mounted his stead, he took off and flew to meet Reconquista's army, both for medical attention and to inform them of the royalists' absence.

* * *

It was pitch black when Nemo came to, she didn't know how long she had been out for, minutes? Hours...? She had no idea. Moments later, the control console lit up the cockpit as power was restored to the Mark Nemo. Even so the image on the monitor was black; Nemo confirmed that whatever it was that hindered her vision was external as there nothing wrong with the Mark Nemo's sensors.

For a moment she considered popping the hatch but was quick to dismiss it. If Wardes was nearby she would be needlessly exposing herself (and Louise) to danger.

Instead she checked the sound pickup. There was a soft crackling sound but nothing to indicate an imminent threat.

Knowing that she didn't have the time to sit around doing nothing, she took a chance on moving the Mark Nemo knowing full well that doing so would give away her position. As it righted itself, the sound of wood scrapping the roof of the cockpit could be heard before falling to the ground nearby; it seemed that the Mark Nemo had been buried at some point.

 _'Did the building collapse?'_ She wondered, _'good thing I didn't open the hatch that would've been embarrassing.'_

When the hatch retracted she was temporarily blinded by sunlight. On the bright side Wardes didn't skewer her out of nowhere. When her eyes adjusted she saw that while the walls were still standing, the roof was mysteriously absent. The answer to the mystery lay all around her.

Scattered throughout the floor was the charred remains of church's roof, wisps of smoke emanating from several piles here and there. Even the Mark Nemo was covered in a layer of soot, no wonder she hadn't been able to see anything earlier.

"Set on fire," She murmured to herself. "Again."

"I think we should be thankful that a layer of soot is all we have to worry about." Said Derf, still embedded in the saddle. "We got lucky lass that spell was a sure kill. Good thing I was able to absorb the brunt of it."

"You neglected to mention that you could absorb magic." She said with a hint of accusation in her tone.

"I didn't remember 'til now, six thousand years takes a toll on one's memory." Derf said defensive. "Besides you never asked."

"Come to think of it, we never got around to investigating your connection to the Runes."She recalled. "First Kirche sticks her nose where it doesn't belong and then Fouquet robbed the academy, and after that the princess dumped this mission on us. There are just too many distractions keeping us from following up."

"From the gist of things, you might be able to do the same with that copy." Derf pointed out.

"Copy?" She looked over the side of the cockpit where she could see the blade that had materialized towards the end of the fight. Visually the sword was identical to Derf in appearance, but had been scaled up to fit in the Mark Nemo's hand.

"Yeah, it feels like I'm in two places at once. That's why I think it can so same thing. It doesn't seem to have a mind of its own so you needn't worry about it _striking_ up a conversation. Get it? _Striking_."Derf chuckled, half joking, half reassuring.

"Thank goodness for that, I have enough trouble dealing with you as it is. The last thing I need is another talking sword." She said sourly. Realizing that she was getting distracted she focused her mind on the matter at hand and mentally checked on Louise's condition.

Physically Louise had recovered from the spell's effects, mentally however she was still reconciling Wardes' betrayal and was in no condition to make the trek back to Scarborough Port unassisted. Not to mention that Reconquista's army was somewhere nearby and closing in on their location.

Carefully Nemo maneuvered her knightmare so she could peer through the blown out windows of the church. What she saw outside was number of soldiers forming a perimeter around the monastery, however there were too few to be the army that Cromwell and Wardes had mentioned earlier, though they may have originally been assigned to it. It wouldn't have surprised her if the bulk of the army had been diverted to sweep the countryside for Whales and his royalists whom were still at large.

The men that she could see had probably been detached from the main force to watch the monastery in the event that Louise/Nemo had somehow survived the burning of the church.

"Looks like we're fighting our way out." Nemo mused, though overall she wasn't all that worried. Most of the soldiers were normal humans, armed with primitive spears that posed no direct threat to her knightmare and not a single cannon in sight. There were a number of mages however; she'd have to keep an eye out for them.

"You sure about that lass?" Derf asked, "This thing is blind from all the soot and if ride out there with the top off you'll be exposed."

"We don't really have much of a choice Derf. I could get rid of the soot by dismissing the Mark Nemo but given Louise's mental state right now there's no guarantee that I could call it back and I'd rather we weren't here when the rest of the army shows up. We're going to have to chance it."

"You make a compelling argument." Derf reluctantly conceded.

The Mark Nemo leaped over the wall through the now open roof, the sound of the impact when it landed startling the nearby soldiers. It then charged the perimeter. The mages commanding the soldiers order them to form ranks, however they must realized that their pikes were useless against the Mark Nemo's armor as such they made little effort to carry out the order.

With no time to enforce their orders as bore down on them, they instead began hurling spells at the Mark Nemo.

Nemo swatted a fireball from the air only to find out much to her delight, that Derf's theory about the large sword was correct as it sucked in the fireball."Nice!"Nemo approved.

"Just remember, there's a limit to how much magic it cans absorb at any one time." Derf warned.

"Got it." With the aid of her Geass she had the Mark Nemo dodge and weave through spells, using the large blade to absorb those spells she couldn't avoid. When she reached the perimeter there was a line of terrified pike men forming a hastily erected spear-wall in front of a few mages.

Nemo ignored them and had the Mark Nemo hurtle the pikes, while airborne she lashed out at the mages with her blonde-knives - she'd rather they didn't shoot her in the back - after she landed she sprinted in for the nearby woods, when she reached it she plowed into the tree-line and vanished beneath the branches.

* * *

Normally the travel time between the monastery and the port city of Scarborough was roughly about an hour on horseback, thanks to the Mark Nemo's long stride and relentless pace they had made the journey in half the time. After that they had only one last obstacle to overcome and that was getting a despondent Louise to walk into the city and on a ship back to La Rochelle under her own power.

In the end Nemo practically had to bully her into doing it when it became evident that gentle reasoning wasn't going to work. She had reminded Louise that they still had a job to do and that if she wanted to mope she could do that on the ship, which was safer than doing it on the edge of the woods where wild animals and armed men were probably lurking nearby.

Eventually Louise made her way into the port city and chartered a ship back to Tristain; suffice to say she wasn't looking forward to delivering the news to Henrietta.

* * *

 **\- End of Chapter 12 -  
**

* * *

 **AN: Know it's being awhile, I was a little distracted these past couple of months. Anyhow 'pltrgst' had pointed out how my flashback at the end of the previous chapter was a little confusing, I've integrated it with Nemo & Wales earlier conversation, hopefully that eliminates the confusion. Also 'Xenter' had mentioned pacing issues with the Chapter 1, I'll see if I can fix that before posting what I hope to be the last chapter for Part 1. Then I can get to work on Part 2.**


	13. Invasion Part 1

**\- Invasion Part 1 -**

* * *

In the time it took for the ship to travel from the port of Scarborough to La Rochelle, Louise had recovered from her stupor. Disembarking from the ship, Louise's first stop was to return to The Goddess's Temple hotel where in light of the situation the surprise of being reunited with Kirche and co was lost on her.

"Louise...?" Kirche started, however she stopped when she saw Louise's downcast expression, combined with Wards absence told her right away that the mission had gone south. "Louise, what happened?"

"The enemy followed us; we led them straight to the Prince... I need to get to the palace..." Louise's legs suddenly gave out from under her and Kirche rushed forward to catch her.

"In the state you're in, you're likely to fall off your horse before you get there. What you need is to rest." She told her.

Louise shook her head. "Wardes, he betrayed us..."

Kirche's eyes widened in shock at the implications. "Tabitha! We'll need Sylphid, we have to get to palace and expose the traitor before he can do anymore damage. Guiche! Settle the bill we're leaving."Guiche rushed over to reception while Tabitha went out front to call Sylphid. Soon enough the four of them were speeding towards the capital on the back of Tabitha's Wind Dragon.

* * *

When they flew above the royal palace they were met by a squadron of Manticore Knights whom tried to warn them away from the palace; however the group landed in the courtyard in front of the palace anyway.

The squadron quickly surrounded them, wands drawn with spells at the ready. The commander demanded that they relinquish their wands, but because of Wardes betrayal they were hesitant to do so. However Tabitha had warned against such an action and the group reluctantly threw down their wands.

"Didn't you know? Flying is prohibited above the Royal Palace." He informed them sternly.

Stepping forward on shaky legs Louise introduced herself. "I am the Duke of La Vallière's third daughter; Louise Françoise. I request an audience with her Highness, Princess Henrietta."

Lowering his wand he eyed her intently, as he knew of the Vallière Duchy. "I see... Well, what is your purpose here?"

Before she could refuse his inquiry, Nemo spoke up. _"I'd reconsider telling him it's a secret, his obvious response would be to deny your request, or worse they might arrest us, and while we are waiting to be released Wardes will speak to her first and poison her against us. Assuming of course that he doesn_ _'_ _t intend to kill her."_

 _'And what should I say to him?'_ Louise thought angrily. _'It's not like I can tell him anything.'_

 _"Make up some plausible excuse?"_ Louise flinched as Nemo yelled at her. _"And don't act so surprised, I told you ages ago. I don_ _'_ _t need to hear you speak to know what you're thinking,_ I'm. Literally. Inside. Your. Head!"

 _'But I can't lie to him,_ _'_ Louise thought back, _'_ _it_ _'_ _s beneath my dignity as a Noble.'_

 _"Then tell him half of the truth! The parts that aren't a national secret!"_ Nemo blasted her. _"The world isn't black and white Louise; you'll have to learn to be flexible if you don't want your life to be harder than necessary!"_ If it were physically possible Nemo would've given Louise a swift kick up the backside. _"We can't afford for Wardes to speak to Her Highness before we do."_

"I have just concluded a private errand on behalf of Her Highness," She begrudgingly said, "and have returned to report the results in person. If you must, you may confirm this with Princess."

The knight commander thought it over for a moment. "I see, wait here while I confirm your story."

The group waited several agonizing minutes for the knight commander's return; all the while they were plagued with worries such as; _'What if Wardes had gotten here first?'_ Not to mention Henrietta's probable reaction to the news Louise was about to deliver.

If that were the case and Wardes framed them for the mission's failure, the knight commander would return not to escort them to the Princess but to arrest them. The other possibility was the commander would find the Princess assassinated. However under the watchful gaze of the Manticore Knights, they could do nothing but await the outcome.

Not long after his departure the knight commander returned. "Miss Vallière, Her Highness will see you now, you are to meet with her in her private study," He shifted his attention to the others, "the rest of you will remain here."

With that said he escorted Louise to Henrietta's private study.

When they entered the study Henrietta was waiting for them, once she received them the knight commander withdrew from the room closing the door behind him. With a wave of her wand Henrietta cast a 'Spell of Tranquility' to prevent others from listening in.

Louise kneeled before Henrietta. "Princess."

"Louise," she said trying to hide her anxiety, "I hear that Sir Wardes did not return with you."

"Yes Princess."

"You returned instead in the company of others?"

"It was... unavoidable."

Henrietta thought over Louise's answers carefully. Louise wasn't the type to carelessly share her secrets, especially when Henrietta gave explicit instruction not to, and yet three others had gotten involved , two of which hailed from neighboring kingdoms and she needed to how deeply involved they were. "How?"

"Gramont overheard our conversation within the academy." Louise answered truthfully, recalling Kirche's earlier explanation. "That is how von Zerbst and Tabitha became aware of my mission."This news greatly concerned Henrietta, the Gallian was on matter as Gallia was currently maintaining a position of neutrality, but the Germanian was a different problem altogether. Louise must have seen this in her expression because she added. "Von Zerbst seemed to genuinely want the mission to succeed, Princess."

Henrietta barely contained her surprise wondering how much it cost Louise's pride to admit that a Zerbst of all people was acting in Tristain's best interests. Even so, such an admission added weight to the possibility that the girl wasn't a threat to her, or the alliance.

"I see," she said, "and Sir Wardes?"

"He tried to kill Prince Wales." Louise informed her. "It was revealed that he had in fact defected to Reconquista's cause some time ago and used me to lead them to the Prince's location."

"And Wales?" Henrietta asked apprehensively.

"My familiar - Nemo - says he was wounded while battling Wardes," Louise relayed to Henrietta as her memories during that event were hazy at best, "however he was still alive when he and the royalists withdrew." She neglected to mention that the royalists had to carry the Prince out.

"What became of him after that I do not know, Nemo's focus was on blocking Wardes pursuit."She finished.

"I see. Thank you, Louise." Henrietta said, somewhat relieved she embraced Louise.

Louise reciprocated. "Princess."

After that Henrietta summoned the others, and after they swore an oath to secrecy they were allowed to return to the academy.

* * *

Three hours later, Louise and co were back at the academy. Guiche sighed as he and the others dismounted their horses when they reached the academy's stables.

When they exited the stables, they were immediately set upon by five boys. "Kirche!" They cried out rushing over to her. Guiche recognized them as Ajax, Berisson, Gimili, Manican and finally Styx from a few nights ago before he and Kirche set off in pursuit of Louise along with Tabitha.

"Where have you been?" Ajax demanded.

"We haven't seen you for days." Said Berisson.

"No one knew where you went." Said Manican.

"You had us worried." Styx said reaching out to take Kirche's hand, only for her to reflexively step out of reach, and not in the teasingly _'I'm playing hard to get,'_ manner but rather in the _'Don't touch me'_ manner.

The five boys were dumbfounded by her behavior.

Annoyed she said, "The past few days have been tiresome. I'm not in the mood to play games with you lot." She started making her way to the girls' dorms.

Once again the boys stared after her dumbstruck before rounding on Guiche.

"Guiche, what happened?!"Gimili Demanded.

"Yeah, you were with her last." Said Berisson.

"Speaking of which, you've just come back from wherever with her."Styx suspiciously noted.

"Are you trying to steal her away from us?!" Manican demanded.

Guiche overwhelmed by the barrage of questions paused briefly trying to come up with an explanation that didn't violate his oath of secrecy to the Princess. However the boys interpreted his silence as an admission of guilt.

"This is unacceptable!" Ajax raged. The five boys nodded simultaneously as they brandished their wands." Guiche de Gramont! The five of us each challenge you to a duel."

Each of them were dot mages just like him and while they wouldn't do something as unseemly as gang up on him, fighting five consecutive duels would ensure that one or more of them would eventually best him.

"Uh oh..." was all Guiche managed to say, however before he could draw his wand a tongue of flame lashed out erratically at the five boys singeing their hair and clothes. Guiche turned to look at his savior.

Kirche stood there frowning at her wand, still pointed at the five, apparently she had returned at some time during the ruckus. Looking up from her wand she glared at the boys and said, "as I've said before; we've had a long day and have no time for antics." She stalked over to Guiche, grabbed the collar of his mantle. The boys watched unhappily as she dragged Guiche away with her.

"Thanks, I think..." Guiche said at first, then asked, "But why are you...?"

"If I left you there, those idiots would've started up again." She answered wearily. "And I didn't want my help to be for nothing. Thou it's only a temporary reprieve, you're still going to have to deal with them tomorrow and afterwards." She pointed out. Guiche's shoulders slumped at the thought; he wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.

For the next few, Guiche would frequently find himself in Kirche's company. Initially it was to avoid the other boys who were constantly trying to issue challenges, at times it was so bad he was unable to return to the boy's dorms without being harassed and ended up crashing at Kirche's, which only infuriated the boys further. He had tried Monmon's first, but after the incident requiring them to make a mad dash to Lake Ragdorian, she still refused to speak to him. Seriously it wasn't his fault... well maybe a little, but she was the one that went overboard and she knew better too.

Inevitably he had to accept the boys' challenges and duel each of them, winning some and losing others.

These days he wasn't so much as hiding, but rather he had no one else to hand out with. They hadn't been canoodling or anything if the like, even those times when he spent the night nothing of sort happened, she seemingly wasn't in the mood, thou worryingly she was suffering from infrequent nightmares much like the one she had back in the hotel in La Rochelle. Instead they spent much of their time together solving puzzles or he would listen to Kirche play the harp much to his surprise as he never knew she could play.

Then word reached the academy, the letter that Louise had been tasked to retrieve had turned up... in Germania.

* * *

In Albion, Wardes watched as numerous carpenters, smiths and engineers went about their business refitting the Lexington - Albion's flagship. He was inside an enormous tent that shielded the large ship from rain, located in the town of Rosyth on the outskirts of Londinium. Rosyth was the location of Albion's Air Force Arsenal that constructed and repaired Albion's air fleet.

Right now the Lexington was being fitted with improved cannons that had one and half times the range of traditional cannons. The ship was two hundred meters long and a dragon was painted across its hull. One hundred and eight cannons sprouted from the sides and underneath its hull like an upside down porcupine.

Wardes thoughts however weren't focused on the ship but rather on news received from Tristain via their spy-ring. Not long after word had reached him that his fiancée's familiar had been sighted heading for Scarborough Port, he was then informed that Louise had appeared in short order before Henrietta and had reveal his treachery to the Princess.

In the weeks following the announcement to the nobility of Tristain, he was stripped of his land and title in absentia. His chateau within the Visconti de Wards was repossessed by the crown and was stripped of everything of value and it s coffers emptied of coin.

Wardes felt no attachment to his family estate, most of his time was spent on maneuvers with the Griffin Knights and as such he rarely set foot in his family's home. The only people in residence at the time were a skeleton staff, his butler; Galgann included among them. Nor did he feel any loss towards the family heirlooms that were sold by the crown. Everything that had value to him had already been removed and secured in Albion, one been the locket around his neck that contained his mother's portrait, the other; her dairy from when she was a researcher at the royal court's magic research agency; Tristain's Academia.

No matter, as commander of Albion's Dragoons he would have plenty of opportunities to regain them and more in the upcoming invasion. Clenching the artificial hand fitted to his left arm he departed from the tent.

* * *

About a month after the conclusion of Louise's mission, Reconquista and by extension the new Holy Republic of Albion declared war on Tristain.

The declaration came in the wake of the destruction of Tristain's fleet stationed at the port city of La Rochelle, at the hands of Albion's whose ships had outnumbered and outgunned theirs' by two to one and were now moving north towards the fields of Tarbes.

In the small village of Tarbes, the villagers started at the unexpected sound of thunder off in the distance. Looking up in confusion they saw not a stormy cloud in the sky. Then someone pointed to the south towards the mountains. "Look!"

The skies above the mountains were black, not with storm clouds, but columns of smoke. Below them they could make out shapes crossing over the mountains. From the shapes what appeared to be numerous birds took flight, but as they got closer the villagers quickly realized they weren't birds at all.

"Dragons!" One cried out in alarm.

Numerous crimson scaled Fire Dragons flew overheard pouring streams of fire into the nearby fields and beyond. In their wake came a fleet of ships, at the head of the fleet on the Flagship Lexington, Cromwell stood as Albion's Dragoons set Tarbes ablaze.

* * *

In response to Albion's declaration of war, Princess Henrietta was attending an emergency meeting alongside her mother, as well as her generals, cabinet ministers and other officials as they discussed possible courses of action to take.

They couldn't ask for aid from Germania. Upon the arrival of the stolen letter, the Germanian Emperor Albrecht the third had been scandalized, and his noble peers within his empire were outraged on his behalf forcing a breakdown in the alliance. Tristain was effectively on its own, and Gallia while having sufficient troops to repel Albion's forces, it would take time to mobilize its vast army. Time Tristain no longer had.

Henrietta watched as the generals and ministers argued back and forth, then a messenger arrived to deliver dire news; the Lord of Tarbes and men-at-arms had been decimated. And just like that, they ran out of time to debate. They had to act now or resign themselves to defeat. Henrietta looked to her mother whom met her gaze with a sad smile giving her a nod of encouragement.

Seeing her rise from her chair, the clamor of voices from those present hushed as they turned to watch her, awaiting her decision.

Her voice carried across the room clear and unyielding as she met each of their gazes."Once again our skies have been invaded by Albion's ships and one of our brave lords has already fallen, defending our kingdom. We cannot permit this to go unanswered... to go unchallenged. It is time to remind Albion why Tristain withstood the test of time. Gentlemen, we ride to war."

Looking over those present, some bowed their heads in resignation, some maintained carefully neutral expressions, while others appeared eager for battle - most of those were among her generals - either out of patriotism or genuine desire for battle.

"Well you heard her highness!"It took a great deal of effort to maintain her composer as she tried to identify the speaker.

General Gramont bulldozed to the front of the crowd where everyone could see him before addressing those around him. "Dispatch riders immediately to all of Tristain's holdings, they are to muster their men-at-arms and ready themselves for battle!"

Spurred into action several of Tristain's swiftest Wind Dragons departed from the palace speeding to every corner of Tristain.

* * *

Hours later Henrietta entered the courtyard in front of the palace, clad in her battle attire. However because she wasn't trained for battle her personal armor was more ceremonial than functional.

Armed only with her royal scepter, her armor was white with gold trim consisting of a corselet - a type of breastplate that covered the top half of the body - underneath she wore a black and yellow corset and a two tone blue skirt. Greaves protected her lower legs from the knees down and her lower arms were covered by a combination of gauntlets and vambraces. Pauldrons protected both her shoulders and a jewel encrusted gorget ringed her throat, a dark blue cape hung from her shoulder pauldrons.

In the courtyard arrayed before her were the three Knight Corp; the Griffin, Manticore and Dragon Knights, as well as a number of noblemen and their men-at-arms gathered from the nearby lands around the capital. Those from the provinces to northwest and to the east had yet to arrive but she couldn't afford to wait for them, those to the south would be gathered along the way as they marched.

Her mount - a unicorn - was brought before her. Placing one foot in the stirrup, she lifted herself into the saddle. Once she was seated she looked to General Gramont who nodded that they were as ready as they could be.

Raising her wand she addressed her army. "Regiments, assemble!"The Knight Corps and men-at-arms all saluted.

Kicking the unicorn's flanks she set off flanked by the Griffin and Manticore knights as the Dragon Knights took flight overhead, followed by the noblemen and their men-at-arms, behind them supply wagons trundled after them.

* * *

The next day news of the declaration of war had finally reached the academy, the delay resulting from the chaos in the palace.

Both the students and staff were confined to within the academy's walls, however before it could be enforced, Louise - at Nemo's urging - had taken a horse from the stables and rode south as fast she could to catch up with Henrietta.

Fortunately it didn't take long for her to catch up as the size of Henrietta's army slowed its march. She caught up to the supply wagons first, but was forced to go off-road around them; soon she was passing the advancing columns of men-at-arms unobstructed. However it wasn't until she reached Henrietta's advanced guard that she was intercepted by of the Princess's knights.

"I am Louise Françoise de La Vallière," She told him, "I must speak with her highness Princess Henrietta."

It took a short while to convince the knight, however he eventually escorted her to Henrietta at the head of the column.

"Louise!? What are you doing here?" Suffice to say Henrietta was shocked to see Louise amongst her troops.

"Princess! Please allow me to accompany you!"

Deep down Henrietta knew she should've turned Louise away and send her back to the academy where she would be safe with the other students. However sentimentality compounded by nervousness toward the oncoming battle won out. Her generals were unhappy and disapproved of her decision, however the urgency of the situation left no time to quarrel, so they resigned themselves and she would stay quietly in the back while the real soldiers did their jobs.

Earlier that day Henrietta dispatched both the Griffin and Manticore Knights. They were to link up with the northern nobles straggling behind them, and then head west to take up a position north of Albion's beachhead at Tarbes, with orders to harry any enemy scouts they encountered but otherwise not engage the main force until her army took to the field.

Afterwards Henrietta's army continued marching south until they reached Ragdorian Lake. Even as the ranks of her army swelled, a number of nobles residing in Tristain's eastern provinces had yet to join, the Vallières among them.

The Vallière's delay came at no surprise as their Duchy was large and it would take time for them to assemble their men-at-arms. Therefore she dispatched a messenger to them, because the Duke had formerly been a member of the Manticore Knights she gave him instructions to gather the remaining nobles and their troops to join up with the knights she sent westward and take command.

Meanwhile she and the army would follow the mountain range west until she reached the Port city of La Rochelle where she'll begin preparations to confront Albion's invasion force.

* * *

The city of La Rochelle was mostly empty when Henrietta's marched into the city. The three thousand or so peddlers, traders, merchants and tourists had fled when Tristain's and Albion's fleets began exchanging fire in sky above the port; the remaining three hundred city dwellers took shelter within their homes. All around the city the burning wreckages of Tristain's fleet dotted the nearby mountains.

Shortly after their arrival, Henrietta's army established itself within the now repurposed castle - The Goddess's Temple - Louise noted with irony that the expensive hotel she stayed in a little over a month ago was now the only fortification big enough to house the Princess's army.

Albion's fleet hadn't bothered taking the port city, as it was designed to repel airborne invaders from the floating continent as it had done many times in the past. Taking the port would've tied up their fleet for weeks bombarding the city into submission and its location within a gorge left few alternatives for a landing, which was why they had instead turned north to the poorly defended plains of Tarbes.

As they waited for the last of the supply wagons to catch up, the army took the opportunity to rest and recuperates from their long march. Meanwhile the Princess and her generals convened within The Goddess's Temple to discuss their plan of attack, once the last of the supplies were unloaded they would march north through the mountain pass and into Tarbes to confront Albion's army with the Dragon Knights providing cover air while engaging Albion's Dragoons. However the loss of their fleet meant they had to improvise a means to counter and take down Albion's ships.

* * *

Wardes gaze sweep across the battlefield as he flew over the fields of Tarbes. Below him Albion's soldiers numbering around three thousand had set up camp under the cover of their fleet.

Shortly upon their arrival within Tarbes' airspace, the local militia supported by only a single mage - the lord of Tarbes himself - quickly fell prey to Albion's Dragoons.

After which they set about igniting nearby villages and farmsteads so that the footmen could raid them with little to no resistance. There had been some minor setbacks, such as when scouts had stumbled into a pack of orcs which had been squatting within the ruins of an old temple. The scouts were badly savaged by the time the pack was incinerated by a Dragoon flying overhead and the ruins set alight.

Earlier Wardes had been dispatched north in response to an alert by one of the patrols which had encountered an enemy force. After he landed on the Lexington, Wardes strode to Cromwell's cabin to deliver his report.

"Your Excellency."

"Ah, Sir Wardes. What news do you bring?"

"I've identified a small force north of our encampment, they number around a thousand among them are the Griffin and Manticore Knights, less than a third of our force."

"And the Princess?"

"I didn't see her standard among the men-at-arms, General Gramont's was also absent along with Tristain's Dragon Knight Corps. Most likely their purpose is to delay our advance towards the capital so that the Princess could muster the remainder of her army, for now they are content with harrying our scouts and patrols."

Cromwell considered this, and then nodded. "I agree, this is merely a delaying tactic trading troops for time. How long before the Princess can muster the entirety of her forces?"

"Tristain is a small kingdom, it would take but a few days for the nobility to raise their armies and rally at the capital."Wardes informed him.

Cromwell sighed. "That's the problem with small kingdoms; their resources are few and are quickly spent. Conquering them is easy, but afterwards they would become a burden to our cause."

"How much do you think it will set us back?" Wardes asked somewhat concerned.

"It's only a setback if we delay our invasion of Germania, instead we'll speed up our timetable. What Tristain lacks we'll steal from them."

Suddenly they heard a call. "Enemy sighted to the south!"

Wardes followed Cromwell into the upper deck and they both fixed their gaze southward. There he saw numerous dragons in the distance; he could barely make out their riders.

 _'Tristain's Dragon Knights?' The Princess must be nearby.'_ To confirm his suspicions Wardes drew a circle in the air in front of him with his wand as he caste a spell. The image inside the circle magnified allowing him to make out the Princess's standard - a unicorn crossed with a crystal staff - as well as General Gramont's among the mass of bodies that made up their army.

"Clever girl, rather than wait she took the initiative." Cromwell mused before asking, "How many?"

"Including the Dragon Knights, I estimate their numbers to be around two thousand." Wardes told him. "Combined with the force in the north, that brings the total to roughly three thousand, equal to our own in the encampment below."

"But without a fleet, we still hold the advantage." Cromwell concluded. "Captain Bowood, signal the fleet; prepare for battle."

"Yes Your Excellency." Bowood began issuing orders to the crew.

Two rows of earth golems emerged from the ground, interposing themselves between Tristain's and Albion's armies.

"Wardes, I leave the Dragoons in your hands." Knowing he was dismissed, Wardes headed to the dragons' stables within the ship's hold.

"Fire!" Bowood commanded and fifty of the Lexington's one hundred and three cannons thundered.

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 **End of chapter 13.**

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 **A/N: For those of you who aren't aware, I've updated and expanded on chapter 1 a short while ago. I've been thinking on doing the same for Ch 2 but am unsure if it's needed.  
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 **Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will conclude Nightmare of the Void Part 1, and then I can start laying the groundwork for Part 2. Also as of a couple of months ago this story has received over 10,000 views!  
**

 **Update: I know it's being a while since my last update, sorry but I seem to have writers block (or at least a lack of inspiration) as of late. I might temporarily shift my focus to another project to work my way out of it and then come back to this one.**

 **Update 14/08/17: Made some progress, can't guarantee a release date yet. Just wanted you guys to know that this story aren't dead yet.**


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